innocent
See also: Innocent
English
Alternative forms
- hinnocent
Etymology
From Middle English innocent, from Old French inocent, borrowed from Latin innocens (“harmless, inoffensive”), from in- (“not”) + nocēns, present participle of noceō (“to hurt”). Displaced native Old English unsċyldiġ.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɪnəsənt/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file)
Adjective
innocent (comparative more innocent, superlative most innocent)
- Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.
- I'm sure there's an innocent explanation for all this.
- The situation certainly looked bad, but it turned out that everything was innocent.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii], line 16:
- to offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb to appease an angry god
- 2018 September 26, Brian Karem, "Bethesda Resident Describes "Culture Of Privilege" Leading To Exploitation And Abuse" in The Montgomery County Sentinel
- "These were not innocent times," she said.
- Bearing no legal responsibility for a wrongful act.
- Without wrongful intent; accidental or in good faith.
- He didn't mean anything by it; it was an innocent mistake.
- The child's innocent question revealed the embarrassing truth in front of everyone.
- Naive; artless.
- c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, scene v], line 37, page ii:
- I can find out no rhyme to / 'lady' but 'baby' – an innocent rhyme;
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- (obsolete except medicine) Not harmful; innocuous; harmless; benign.
- 1715–1720, Homer; [Alexander] Pope, transl., “Book XXII”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], OCLC 670734254:
- The spear / Sung innocent, and spent its force in air.
- 2006, David J. Driscoll, Fundamentals of Pediatric Cardiology (page 43)
- Although an innocent murmur is not an obstacle to participation in sports and exercise, a pathologic murmur may necessitate restrictions on the child's physical activity.
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- (with of) Lacking (something), or knowledge of it.
- 1960 September, “Talking of Trains: Progress at Stafford”, in Trains Illustrated, page 522:
- At the beginning of July Stafford station was innocent of buildings, except for a couple of coach bodies to house the staff, but the temporary accommodation to cover the period of building the new station was well on the way to completion.
- 1983, Judith Martin, Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, xvii:
- Her only slight comfort is that they are not as bad as the new litter of Awful children who resulted from this marriage, Lisa, Adam, Jason, and Kristen. By all reports, they are entirely innocent of manners of any kind.
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- Lawful; permitted.
- an innocent trade
- Not contraband; not subject to forfeiture.
- innocent goods carried to a belligerent nation
Synonyms
- (free from blame or guilt): sackless, guiltless
- (free from sin): pure, untainted
- (naive): See also Thesaurus:naive
Antonyms
- (bearing no legal responsibility for a wrongful act): guilty, nocent
- (naive): perverse
Derived terms
- innocent passage
Related terms
- innocence
- innocently
- innocuous
Translations
pure, free from sin, untainted
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not legally responsible for a wrongful act
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naive, artless
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harmless in intent
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Noun
innocent (plural innocents)
- One who is innocent, especially a young child.
- The slaughter of the innocents was a significant event in the New Testament.
- (obsolete) A harmless simple-minded person; an idiot.
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin innocens, innocentem (“harmless, inoffensive”).
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -ent
Adjective
innocent (masculine and feminine plural innocents)
- innocent
Derived terms
- innocentment
Related terms
- innocència
- innocentada
Further reading
- “innocent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “innocent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
- “innocent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “innocent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
Etymology
From Old French inocent, borrowed from Latin innocens, innocentem (“harmless, inoffensive”), from in- (“not”) + nocēns, present participle of noceō (“to hurt”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /i.nɔ.sɑ̃/
audio (file)
Adjective
innocent (feminine innocente, masculine plural innocents, feminine plural innocentes)
- innocent
Derived terms
- innocemment
- innocent comme l'agneau qui vient de naître
- innocent comme l'enfant qui vient de naître
Related terms
- innocence
- innocenter
Noun
innocent m (plural innocents, feminine innocente)
- an innocent person
- (figurative) a naive person
- (Quebec) a stupid or foolish person
Further reading
- “innocent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.