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absolutio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word absolutio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (solvō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin luo
Latin solvo
English solve
French sol
Latin insolubilis
English insoluble
Latin dissolvo
Latin dissolutio
Latin dissolutus
Latin absolvo
Latin absolutio
Latin exsolvo
Latin eluo
Latin eluvies

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ap.sɔˈɫuː.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ab.soˈlut.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

absolūtiō f (genitive absolūtiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin absolvō (“to set free, acquit; finish”) + -tiō.[2][1][3] That verb is a compound of ab (“from”) and solvō (“to loosen”), which de Vaan explains as an old compound of ⟨*se-⟩ “away” and -luō (“to loosen”).[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it in the Verrines, of a man who no longer hopes for acquittal, and in the Timaeus and the De inventione of completion and perfection.[2]

Semantic evolution

In legal language it is acquittal: Cicero writes that sixteen votes could secure it, mentions the acquittal of the virgins, and uses absolūtiō maiestātis, acquittal on a charge of treason.[5] The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of the completeness of a figure of speech.[2] In the Digest it is release from an obligation.[2] Christian writers use it of release in general: Ambrose calls death the release and separation of soul and body, and Tertullian speaks of baptism as freedom from death.[6] In Church Latin it is the forgiveness of sins, sacramental absolution.[7] In Medieval Latin it is also the dissolving of a meeting, the release of a prisoner, the freeing of a slave and its record, and emancipation from a father's power.[8] English absolution comes from it through Old French, about 1200.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of acquittal and of completion.[2][5][9]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian, of release from death in baptism.[6][9]
  • c. 1200 – absolution appears in English, through Old French.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (law) Acquittal; release from an obligation.[2][5][1]
  2. Finishing, completion; completeness, perfection.[2][1]
  3. (Late Latin) Release, deliverance; separation.[6][1]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Absolution, forgiveness of sins.[7]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Dissolution of a meeting; release of a prisoner; manumission; emancipation from a father's power.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Absolutio.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/absolutio. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·