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absolution

absolution

24 7.9
A formal act in church when a priest forgives someone's sins
  • noun
  • /ˌæb.səˈluː.ʃən/
  • Formal
translation icon : absolución
  • During the confession, the priest offered me absolution for my wrongdoings.
  • absolution from sin
  • priestly absolution
  • confession and absolution

And sadly, because most people give them absolution, let them off the hook.

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Examples

  • The priest from their home village is moving through the Scottish ranks, dispensing absolution.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • If you're looking for absolution, you're asking the wrong man.

  • Do you have any understanding what absolution is?

  • Then I cannot give you absolution.

  • And next thing I remember a priest giving me absolution.

  • And I'll go to my confessor and ask for absolution.

  • Count yourself lucky that absolution is very much part of this religion's dogma.

  • When you do pick a church, choose one that'll hear your sins, at least, your version of them, and give you absolution.

  • God's absolution requires a moral conscience and a yearning to be better.

  • Discussion of absolution brought Hemmingsen to the third duty of the pastor, the exercise of church discipline.

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

forgiveness
vsabsolution
333 2.2

An act of letting go of anger toward someone after they hurt you

is a formal clerical pardon aimed at sins rather than personal reconciliation
remission
vsabsolution
  • Formal
3 7.6

Forgiving a sin or debt, often declared by a priest

is focused on the church ritual of pardoning sins rather than broader debts
remission of sin
vsabsolution
  • Formal
1 9.4

A priest forgives a person's sins after they confess

is a broader official church pardon term used in liturgy
remittal
vsabsolution
  • Archaic
9.9

A formal act that forgives a punishment or sin

is primarily the church's formal act of forgiving sins rather than legal pardon

Antonyms

1.6

To say that someone or something caused something bad

56 5.5

A strong statement saying someone or something is wrong

How Cleared

exoneration
  • Formal
10 7.9
purge
1 7.9
acquittal
41 7.1
absolution
  • Formal
24 7.9
clearing
1 6.0

Surface Forms

absolution singular
absolutions plural

Morphology

absolution = absolve (transparent) = absolve + tion

Standard noun formation from the verb 'absolve' indicating the act or result of absolving; the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

Absolution comes from the Latin absolvere, built from ab- ('away') and solvere ('to loosen' or 'to free'). So absolution is like being 'set free' from guilt or sin, which is why it means formal forgiveness.