innocent

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɪn.ə.sənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English innocent, borrowed from Old French innocent and directly from Latin innocēns (“not guilty, harmless”),^[2][3][4] from in- “not” and nocēns, present participle of nocēre “to harm”,^[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *nek- (“death”).^[2] It is related to noxious, innocuous, nuisance and obnoxious.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Doing no evil, free from sin or guilt: before 1340 in the OED, 1340 in the Ayenbite of Inwyt in Barnhart.^[6][3] The noun, a person free from sin, especially a young child, is from about 1200 in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Not guilty of a particular crime is from 1382 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline,^[6][2] and childlike, simple or artless also from 1382 (about 1385 in Chaucer's Troilus in Barnhart).^[6][3] Lacking intelligence, half-witted, is from 1548, a sense kept in dialect.^[6][7] Of things, harmless, is from 1662.^[6][8] The humorous “free from, devoid of”, as in innocent of grammar, is from 1706.^[6][2] The Holy Innocents, the children killed by Herod, are from the early 14th century.^[2] Indo-European words for “innocent” are generally negative forms of the word for “guilty”.^[2]

Timeline

• a. 1340 – free from sin.^[6]
• 1382 – not guilty of a crime.^[6]
• 1382 – naive.^[6]
• 1548 – half-witted.^[6]
• 1662 – harmless.^[6]
• 1706 – devoid of.^[6][2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Not guilty of a crime.
2. Having no experience of evil; naive.
3. Not meant to cause harm: an innocent remark.
4. Suffering harm without being involved: innocent bystanders.
5. Free from sin.

Noun

1. A person, especially a child, who is free from evil.
2. A simple or inexperienced person.

Word family

• innocently
• uninnocent

Related words

• innocence
• innocuous
• noxious
• nuisance
• obnoxious

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press