Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. Law To free or clear from a charge or accusation.
- v. To release or discharge from a duty.
- v. To conduct (oneself) in a specified manner: acquitted herself well during the interview.
- v. Obsolete To repay.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To release or discharge, as from an obligation, accusation, guilt, censure, suspicion, or whatever is laid against or upon a person as a charge or duty; specifically, in law, to pronounce not guilty: as, we acquit a man of evil intentions; the jury acquitted the prisoner. It is followed by of before the thing of which one is acquitted; to acquit from is obsolete.
- To atone for.
- To settle, as a debt; requite; pay; discharge; fulfil.
- With a reflexive pronoun: To clear one's self.
- To behave; bear or conduct one's self: as, the soldier acquitted himself well in battle; the orator acquitted himself indifferently.
- . To release; set free; rescue.
- Synonyms To exonerate, exculpate, discharge, set free. See absolve.
- To behave, act, bear, conduct, demean, deport, or quit (one's self).
- Past participle of acquit.
Wiktionary
- v. To declare or find not guilty; innocent.
- v. followed by “of” To set free, release or discharge from an obligation, duty, liability, burden, or from an accusation or charge.
- v. obsolete, rare To pay for; to atone for
- v. To discharge, as a claim or debt; to clear off; to pay off; to requite, to fulfill.
- v. reflexive To clear one’s self.
- v. reflexive To bear or conduct one’s self; to perform one’s part.
- v. obsolete To release, set free, rescue.
- v. archaic Past participle of acquit, set free, rid of.
GNU Webster's 1913
- Archaic Acquitted; set free; rid of.
- v. To discharge, as a claim or debt; to clear off; to pay off; to requite.
- v. obsolete To pay for; to atone for.
- v. To set free, release or discharge from an obligation, duty, liability, burden, or from an accusation or charge; -- now followed by
of before the charge, formerly byfrom - v. To clear one's self.
- v. To bear or conduct one's self; to perform one's part
WordNet 3.0
- v. pronounce not guilty of criminal charges
- v. behave in a certain manner
Etymologies
- From Middle English aquiten, from Old French aquiter, equivalent to a- + quit. See quit, and compare acquiet. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English aquiten, from Old French aquiter : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad-) + quite, free, clear (from Medieval Latin quittus, variant of Latin quiētus, past participle of quiēscere, to rest; see kweiə- in Indo-European roots). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Don’t get me wrong, I think judges are too slow to use their power in this regard, but it should be that the universe of cases where a reasonable jury will acquit is much, much larger than cases where a judge acting property will grant a motion for judgment of acquittal.”
“Potsdam, instead of contenting yourself with the general glitter of the collective corps, and saying, 'par maniere d'acquit', that is very fine,”
Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman, 1749
“They did, then came back with a mixed verdict form: 8 charges marked "acquit," and the rest left blank.”
“Woods isn't used to facing hard questions and probably wouldn't "acquit" himself well under fire, he said.”
“Given the holes in the prosecution's case, there is sufficient doubt to acquit the accused," Mr. Vijayan wrote.”
The Wall Street Journal: Anwar Trial Looms Over Malaysian Politics
“To acquit himself, Mr. Poczobut had to prove that Lukashenko was a dictator and that no free elections had been held in Belarus since the president consolidated power in 1996, two years after he first took office.”
“Yet believing that real life will not acquit, he itches for a sentence.”
“But that changed when the local Supreme Court overturned a Seoul High Court decision to acquit Lone Star on charges of market manipulation and sent it back to the High Court for a new verdict.”
The Wall Street Journal: Hana Tries to Keep KEB Deal Hopes Alive
“At no point did any juror argue that the defense had made a strong enough case to acquit.”
“Would like to know more facts, but if there were two or more fisherman and I were on a jury, given what is presented here I'd acquit.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘acquit’.
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hunting
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A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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EN - eloquence in public speaking
Key words from "The Training of a Public Speaker" by Grenville Kleiser (New York and London, 1920)
beget, imago, Vespasian, languid, studied, judgment, dwindle, artifice, contribute, observe, sonorous, gladiator and 264 more...
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JURI - courtroom speak
Legal glossary with special focus on courtroom vocabulary
accused, acquittal, ADA, adjournment, adjudication, affidavit, affirmed, aggravated range, aggravating factors, allegation, alleged, answer and 794 more...
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January 2012
bloviate, pastiche, apparat, facile, paroxysm, pique, bedfellow, pedigree, tutelage, protege, protégé, retroactive and 196 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
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5000 FREE SAT Words
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 229 more...
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SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL A
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 172 more...
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ADW2
nudnik, temper, intercalate, cleave, scowl, chapfallen, malapropos, disport, annals, paean, paradisiacal, whet and 362 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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G & G
GRE , GMAT , TOEFL , IELTS , SAT 。。。
alphabet soup, vernacular, aberrant, abeyance, abet, recant, contrite, reiterate, patois, skew, senate, deliberative and 179 more...
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word list
abandon, ache, augment, avow, atone, approbate, apprehend, abut, apostatize, abase, abash, abate and 155 more...
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list1
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, ablution and 106 more...
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Sudeep's list
New words I learn.
sang-froid, haggard, gazebo, grotesque, cardinal, labyrinth, pejorative, visage, vignette, insouciant, formidable, prescient and 143 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for acquit.

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