absolución

Forms

absolución f (plural absoluciones)^[1] Old forms include absoluçión, asolución, assolución, ausoluçión and, in the Libro de Apolonio only, osoluçión;^[2] absolución is recorded from the 13th century and is the only form from the 17th.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin absolūtiō (“acquittal; completion”).^[3][4][5][1] Corominas treats it with absolver, whose Latin source it is the noun of: absolvō with the suffix -tiō.^[5][6][1]

In classical Latin the noun meant “completion, perfection” and, in law, “acquittal”;^[6][7][8] Medieval Latin used it for the remission of sins.^[6][7][8] The same Latin word gave Portuguese absolução, a learned word of the 15th century, Catalan absolució, French absolution and Italian assoluzione.^{[9][10][1][11]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record in the TDHLE is the Libro de Apolonio (c. 1240), in the sense “answer to a riddle”: the king set his riddle, to have either Apollonius's head o la osoluçión “or the solution”.^[2] Corominas's first record is Berceo, whose penitents go to the bishop to win absolución (1246–1252, in an 18th-century copy).^[5][12] A charter of 1254 has a carta de donacion e de absolucion, a deed of gift and release.^[12]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word already had its religious sense, the release of a penitent from sin or of an excommunicated person from the censure: the Partidas say that one who wins absolution by deceit is not absolved.^[13][12] The sense “solution, answer” lasted into the 16th century.^[2] Nebrija's equivalent was assolucion de pecado, Latin absolutio.^[14]

The legal phrases grew later: the Academy's 1899 dictionary has absolución de la demanda, the end of a civil suit wholly in favour of the defendant, and absolución de la instancia, which ended a criminal case for lack of proof.^[15] Today the word is the noun of every sense of absolver, above all the acquittal of a defendant and the priest's absolution in confession.^[3][16]

Timeline

• c. 1240 – the Libro de Apolonio has osoluçión “solution of a riddle”.^[2]
• 1246–1252 – Berceo uses absolución of the forgiveness of sins.^[5][12][17]
• 1254 – first CDH hit without a later witness, in a charter of release.^[12]
• 1256–1263 – Alfonso X's Primera Partida uses it of release from excommunication.^[12][13]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija: assolucion de pecado, Latin absolutio.^[14]
• 1521 – first record from the Americas, in Cuba.^[18]
• 1899 – the Academy records absolución de la demanda and absolución de la instancia.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of absolving: release from a charge or obligation.^[3]
2. (religion) absolution: the priest's forgiveness of a penitent's sins in confession.^[16][1]
3. (law) acquittal: a court's declaration that a defendant is not guilty: La fiscal no se opuso a la absolución.^[16][1]

Related words

• absolver
• absoluto
• absolutorio
• solución
• Latin absolūtiō

Usage notes

Legal phrases include absolución de posiciones, a party's answers under oath to the other party's questions, and absolución en la instancia, a ruling that upholds a procedural objection without deciding the merits.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. absolución
3. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. absolución
4. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ábside
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 23
6. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
9. ^ Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. 45
10. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. absolució
11. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 5
12. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. absolución
13. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. absolución
14. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. absolución
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 6
16. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. absolución
17. ^ Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 57
18. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. absolución