innocence
English
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English [Term?], from Old French inocence, from Latin innocentia. Displaced native Old English unsċyld.
Pronunciation
Noun
innocence (countable and uncountable, plural innocences)
- Absence of responsibility for a crime, tort, etc.
- Lack of understanding about sensitive subjects such as sexuality and crime.
- Synonym: naivety
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 9, in The China Governess[1]:
- Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:innocence.
- In his innocence, he offered the stranger to bring the package to Paris, never suspecting it contained drugs.
- Lack of ability or intention to harm or damage.
- Synonym: harmlessness
- Antonym: harmfulness
- Tests have demonstrated the innocence of this substance.
- 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, 1993 edition, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 96:
- His unruly hair was slicked down with water, and as Jessamy introduced him to Miss Brindle his face assumed a cherubic innocence which would immediately have aroused the suspicions of anyone who knew him.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:innocence.
- (obsolete) Imbecility; mental deficiency.
Related terms
Translations
absence of responsibility for a crime
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lack of understanding about sensitive subjects such as sexuality and crime
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lack of ability or intention to harm or damage
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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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French
Etymology
From Old French inocence, a borrowing from Latin innocentia.
Pronunciation
Noun
innocence f (plural innocences)
- innocence
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “innocence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *neḱ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms borrowed from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French feminine nouns