absolutio Latin · revision 33843

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la solvō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ap.sɔˈɫuː.ti.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ab.soˈlut.t͡si.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''absolūtiō''' ''f'' (genitive absolūtiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|absolvō|-tiō|t1=to set free, acquit; finish]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) That verb is a compound of [[m|la|ab|t=from]] and [[m|la|solvō|t=to loosen]], which de Vaan explains as an old compound of ⟨*se-⟩ “away” and [[m|la|-luō|t=to loosen]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==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.^(Lewis & Short 1879) The ''Rhetorica ad Herennium'' uses it of the completeness of a figure of speech.^(OLD 2012) In the Digest it is release from an obligation.^(OLD 2012) 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.^(TLL) In Church Latin it is the forgiveness of sins, sacramental absolution.^(Stelten 1995) 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.^(Niermeyer 1976) English [[m|en|absolution]] comes from it through Old French, about 1200.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of acquittal and of completion.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian, of release from death in baptism.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1200 – [[m|en|absolution]] appears in English, through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(law)'' [[m|en|acquittal|alt=Acquittal]]; release from an obligation.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Finishing, completion; completeness, [[m|en|perfection]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' Release, deliverance; separation.^(TLL)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' [[m|en|absolution|alt=Absolution]], forgiveness of sins.^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Dissolution of a meeting; release of a prisoner; [[m|en|manumission]]; emancipation from a father's power.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[absolūtē]]

+ * [[absolūtōrius]]

+ * [[absolūtus]]

+ * [[absolvō]]

+ * [[en|absolution]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}