innocence

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French inocence, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin innocentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnəsn̩s/

Noun

innocence (countable and uncountable, plural innocences)

1. Absence of responsibility for a crime.

   Her attorney managed to convince the jury of her innocence.

2. Lack of understanding about sensitive subjects such as sexuality and crime.
   • 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.

3. Lack of ability or intention to harm or damage.

   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.
4. (obsolete) Imbecility; mental deficiency.

Synonyms

• (lack of sensitive subjects): naivety
• (absence of ability to harm): harmlessness
• (freedom from guilt): unguilt

Antonyms

• (absence of responsibility for a crime): guilt
• (absence of ability to harm): harmfulness

Related terms

• innocent

Translations

absence of responsibility for a crime

• Arabic: بَرَاءَة (ar) f (barāʔa)
• Armenian: անմեղություն (hy) (anmeġutʻyun)
• Belarusian: няві́ннасць f (njavínnascʹ), невінава́тасць f (njevinavátascʹ)
• Bulgarian: невинност (bg) f (nevinnost)
• Catalan: innocència (ca) f
• Czech: nevina f
• Dutch: onschuld (nl)
• Esperanto: senkulpeco
• Finnish: syyttömyys (fi)
• French: innocence (fr) f
• Galician: inocencia f
• German: Unschuld (de) f
• Greek: αθωότητα (el) f (athoótita)
• Hungarian: ártatlanság (hu)
• Icelandic: sakleysi n, sýkna f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 潔白 (ja) (keppaku), 無罪 (ja) (muzai)
• Korean: 결백 (ko) (gyeolbaek), 무죄 (ko) (mujoe)
• Latvian: nevainība f, nevainīgums m
• Malayalam: നിഷ്കളങ്കത (ml) (niṣkaḷaṅkata)
• Old English: unsċyld f
• Polish: niewinność (pl) f
• Portuguese: inocência (pt) f
• Russian: неви́нность (ru) f (nevínnostʹ), невино́вность (ru) f (nevinóvnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: nȅvīnōst (sh) f, nȅdūžnōst (sh) f
• Slovene: nedolžnost f
• Spanish: inocencia (es) f
• Swedish: oskuld (sv) c, oskyldighet (sv) c
• Turkish: suçsuzluk (tr)
• Ukrainian: неви́нність (uk) f (nevýnnistʹ), невинува́тість f (nevynuvátistʹ)

lack of understanding about sensitive subjects such as sexuality and crime

• Bulgarian: невинност (bg) f (nevinnost)
• Dutch: onschuld (nl)
• Finnish: viattomuus (fi)
• French: innocence (fr) f, candeur (fr) f
• Greek: αθωότητα (el) f (athoótita)
• Hungarian: ártatlanság (hu), naivság
• Icelandic: sakleysi n, barnaskapur m, grandaleysi n
• Japanese: 無邪気 (ja) (mujaki)
• Korean: 무사기 (musagi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latvian: nevainība f
• Malayalam: നിഷ്കളങ്കത (ml) (niṣkaḷaṅkata)
• Polish: niewinność (pl) f
• Portuguese: inocência (pt) f
• Russian: неви́нность (ru) f (nevínnostʹ)
• Slovene: nedolžnost f
• Swedish: oskuld (sv) c
• Tagalog: kawalang-muwang

lack of ability or intention to harm or damage

• Finnish: vaarattomuus (fi)
• German: Harmlosigkeit f
• Greek: αθωότητα (el) f (athoótita)
• Hungarian: ártalmatlanság
• Icelandic: meinlaus m or f, meinlaust n, saklaus (is) m or f, saklaust n, skaðlaus (is) m or f, skaðlaust n
• Japanese: 無害 (ja) (mugai)
• Korean: 무해 (ko) (muhae), 무독 (ko) (mudok)
• Latvian: nevainība f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malayalam: നിഷ്കളങ്കത (ml) (niṣkaḷaṅkata)
• Old English: unsċeþþiġnes f
• Polish: niewinność (pl) f
• Portuguese: inocência (pt) f
• Russian: неви́нность (ru) f (nevínnostʹ)
• Slovene: nedolžnost
• Swedish: harmlöshet (sv) c

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

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} innocenza (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} ionracas m, ^{(please verify)} neo-chiontachd f, ^{(please verify)} neo-choireachd f

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French

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French inocence, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin innocentia.

Noun

innocence f (plural innocences)

1. innocence

Related terms

• innocent

Further reading

• “innocence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.