English → Latin
“absolve” in Latin
absolvōto release, discharge; to loosen from, make loose, detach, untie; to pay offiniūriainjury, wronging, offense, insult, wrong; injustice, wrongdoing; damage, harm, hurt, injurycaputthe head (of humans and animals); head; top; summit; point; end; extremity (beginning or end); origin; source; spring; hexsolvōto unloose, release, free; to unbind, untie, undo; to renounce, abandon, relinquish, leave behindsuspīciōsuspicion; mistrust; a faint idea, imperfect conceptionlīberōto free, set free, liberate; to release, deliver; to absolve, acquit
The English word absolve itself goes back to Latin luō, through absolvō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
absolve
of Judges, PROP. et IMPROP., absolvere; from anything, alicujus rei (e.g., injuriarum, capitis, etc.), or, with reference to anything, aliqua re, de aliqua re (e.g., de regni suspicione; de praevaricatione): exsolvere: from anything, aliqua re (e.g., suspicione): liberare from anything, aliqua re (discharge). To be absolved, liberatum discedere: innocentem or innoxium absolvi; ex judicio emergere.
Of priests, *peccatorum veniam et impunitatem promittere Dei nomine; *fatentibus peccata remittere (Riddle). To absolve one under Church censures, *aliquem resacrare (? Nep., Alcib., 6).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for absolve?
- The usual Latin words for “absolve” are absolvō, iniūria, caput; also exsolvō, suspīciō, līberō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.