English
Etymology
Old English aquiten, Old French aquiter, French acquitter; (Latin ad) + Old French quiter, French quitter, to quit. See quit, and compare acquiet
Alternative spellings
acquite (archaic)
Pronunciation
É�-kwÄt, /É�Ë�kwɪt/, /<tt>@"kwIt</tt>/
:Rhymes:English:-ɪt|Rhymes: -ɪt
Verb
en-verb|acquits|acquitting|acquitted|acquitted
#(followed by "of", [formerly by "from"]): To set free, release or discharge from an obligation, duty, liability, burden, or from an accusation or charge; - as, the jury acquitted the prisoner of the charge; to find not guilty.
#*1775: w:Richard Sheridan|Richard Sheridan, The duenna - His poverty, can you acquit him of that?
#*1837: w:Thomas Babington Macaulay|Thomas Babington Macaulay, "Lord Bacon" in The Edinburgh Review, July 1837 - If he [Bacon] was convicted, it was because it was impossible to acquit him without offering the grossest outrage to justice and common sense.
#(Obsolete, Rare): To pay for; to atone for
#* RQ:Shakespeare Lucrece, line 1071 - Till life to death acquit my forced offence.
- To discharge, as a claim or debt; to clear off; to pay off; to requite, to fulfill.
#*RQ:Chaucer Troilus II, 1200 - `Aquyte him wel, for goddes love,' quod he;
#*1640: w:Thomas Carew|Thomas Carew, Tasso - Midst foes (as champion of the faith) he ment / That palme or cypress should his painees acquite.
#*1836: w:Edward Everett|Edward Everett, Orations I-382 - I admit it to be not so much the duty as the privilege of an American citizen to acquit this obligation to the memory of his fathers with discretion and generosity.
#*1844: w:Ralph Waldo Emerson|Ralph Waldo Emerson, "s:Experience|Experience" in Essays: second series - We see young men who owe us a new world, so readily and lavishly they promise, but they never acquit the debt; they die young and dodge the account: or if they live, they lose themselves in the crowd.
#(Reflexively): To clear one's self
#*RQ:Shakespeare Henry 6-2, III-ii - Pray God he may acquit him of suspicion!
#(Reflexively)): To bear or conduct one's self; to perform one's part; as, the soldier acquitted himself well in battle; the orator acquitted himself very poorly.
#*1766: w:Oliver Goldsmith|Oliver Goldsmith, The vicar of Wakefield, xiv - Though this was one of the first mercantile transactions of my life, yet I had no doubt about acquitting myself with reputation.
#(Obsolete): to release, set free, rescue
#*RQ:Spenser Faerie Queene, I-vii-52 - Till I have acquit your captive Knight
Synonyms
absolve q.v.
clear
exonerate
exculpate
release
discharge
Derived terms
acquital, acquittal
Translations
Portuguese: inocentar
Turkish: aklamak
German: freisprechen
Verb form
- (Archaic): Past participle of acquit, set free, rid of
#*RQ:Shakespeare Wives, I-iii - I am glad I am so acquit of this tinder box.
References
R:Webster 1913
R:Century 1914
ar:acquit
el:acquit
fa:acquit
fr:acquit
io:acquit
it:acquit
pl:acquit
ru:acquit
fi:acquit
ta:acquit
te:acquit
vi:acquit
zh:acquit
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