# innocent

Pronunciation: US say "IN-uh-suhnt" /ˈɪnəsənt/; UK

## Adjective

1. Free from guilt, sin, or moral wrongdoing.
   - Simple: Having done nothing wrong and free from guilt or evil.
   - _Many believed he was morally innocent, whatever the law decided._
   - _She kept an innocent conscience throughout the long ordeal._
2. Not guilty in law of a crime or other wrongful act.
   - Simple: Not guilty of breaking the law.
   - _After new evidence emerged, the jury declared the defendant innocent._
   - _He maintained he was innocent of all charges throughout the trial._
3. Done or said with no intention of wrongdoing, whether by accident or in good faith.
   - Simple: Done by accident, with no wish to do harm.
   - _Her remark was entirely innocent and meant no offense._
   - _The breach was innocent, arising from a genuine misunderstanding._
4. Naive and artless; lacking guile or worldly experience.
   - Simple: Trusting and simple, not knowing about bad things in the world.
   - _His innocent enthusiasm charmed the jaded crowd._
   - _She was too innocent to notice the salesman's tricks._
6. Lacking something, or lacking any knowledge of it.
   - Simple: Not having something, or not knowing about it.
   - _The walls were innocent of decoration, bare and white._
   - _He remained innocent of any knowledge about the plan._
7. Not contraband; not subject to seizure or forfeiture.
   - Simple: Not banned, and allowed to be carried or kept.
   - _The court ruled the cargo innocent and ordered its release._
   - _Only the smuggled crates were seized; the innocent goods were returned._
8. Lawful; permitted.
   - Simple: Allowed by law and permitted.
   - _The treaty guaranteed innocent passage for merchant ships._
   - _They argued the practice was innocent and well within the law._
9. Not harmful; harmless or benign.
   - Simple: Safe and unable to cause any harm.
   - _The lesion proved innocent, requiring no further treatment._
   - _An innocent murmur often disappears as a child grows._

## Noun

5. A person free from guilt or wrongdoing, especially a young child.
   - Simple: A person who has done nothing wrong, especially a young child.
   - _The bombing killed dozens of innocents who had nothing to do with the conflict._
   - _She was an innocent, wholly unprepared for the cruelty she would face._

## Noun

10. A harmless, simple-minded person; a fool or simpleton. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A simple-minded person who means no harm.
   - _The old innocent was harmless, beloved by the children he played with._
   - _Every parish seemed to have its innocent, fed and sheltered by neighbors._

## Origin

This came through Middle English and Old French from Latin "innocens" ("harmless, inoffensive"), formed from "in-" ("not") plus "nocens," the present participle of "noceo" ("to hurt"). It displaced the native Old English "unscyldig."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/innocent (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).