innocence
Meaningthe quality or state of being innocent
Common meaning: the quality or state of being innocent (inferred)
- inin, into; (before adjectives) not
- nocto harmLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1211 · scan
- encenoun ending: doing, or the condition that results
‘in, into’ + ‘to harm’ → innocence
Journey through time
- Latinnoceō; nex‘to harm’
- Middle Englishinnocentsource
- Englishinnocent‘free of guilt’
- Englishformed in English from innocentinnocence‘the quality or state of being innocent (inferred)’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: the quality or state of being innocent. It can be inferred from any of: innocent.
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from innocent + -ence (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- noceō; nex Latin “to harm”
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