exonerate
verb
- to free from blame or a responsibility
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɪɡˈzɒnəɹeɪt/ / /ɛɡ-/ / /ɪɡˈzɑnəˌɹeɪt/
adj
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Latin exonerātus (more at etymology 1), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
- Freed from an obligation; freed from accusation or blame; acquitted, exonerated.
verb
Etymology: From Middle English exoneraten (attested in past participle exonerated), from Latin exonerātus, past perfect participle of exonerō (“to discharge, unload; to exonerate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Exonerō is from ex- (“out, from”) + onerō (“to burden, lade; to load”) further from onus (oner-) (“a burden, load”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃énh₂os (“burden, load”), from *h₃enh₂- (“to charge, onerate”). Compare French exonérer.
- To relieve (someone or something) of a load; to unburden (a load).
- Of a body of water: to discharge or empty (itself).
“I would examine the Caſpian Sea, and ſee where and how it exonerates it ſelfe, after it hath taken in Volga, Iaxares, Oxus, and thoſe great rivers; at the mouth of Oby, or where?”
- To free (someone) from an obligation, responsibility or task.
- To free (someone) from accusation or blame.