absolution

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act of absolving or the state of being absolved.
2. n. The formal remission of sin imparted by a priest, as in the sacrament of penance.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of absolving, or the state of being absolved; release from consequences, obligations, or penalties; specifically, release from the penal consequences of sin.
2. n. According to Roman Catholic theology, a remission of sin, which the priest, on the ground of authority received from Christ, makes in the sacrament of penance (which see). “It is not a mere announcement of the gospel, or a bare declaration that God will pardon the sins of those who repent, but, as the Council of Trent defines it, is a judicial act by which a priest as judge passes a sentence on the penitent.” Cath. Dict.
3. n. According to Prot. theol., a sacerdotal declaration assuring the penitent of divine forgiveness on the ground of his repentance and faith. In the Roman Catholic Church the priest pronounces the absolution in his own name: “I absolve thee.” In Protestant communions that use a form of absolution, and in the Greek Church, it is pronounced in the name of God and as a prayer: “God [or Christ] absolve thee.”
4. n. Abolition; abolishment.
5. n. In civil law, a sentence declaring an accused person to be innocent of the crime laid to his charge.

Wiktionary

1. n. this sense?) (obsolete) Delivery, in speech.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. An absolving, or setting free from guilt, sin, or penalty; forgiveness of an offense.
2. n. (Civil Law), obsolete An acquittal, or sentence of a judge declaring and accused person innocent.
3. n. (R. C. Ch.) The exercise of priestly jurisdiction in the sacrament of penance, by which Catholics believe the sins of the truly penitent are forgiven.
4. n. (Eccl.) An absolving from ecclesiastical penalties, -- for example, excommunication.
5. n. The form of words by which a penitent is absolved.
6. n. obsolete Delivery, in speech.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the condition of being formally forgiven by a priest in the sacrament of penance
2. n. the act of absolving or remitting; formal redemption as pronounced by a priest in the sacrament of penance