Etymograph

English

absolvitor

Absolvitor comes from Latin absolvō ‘to absolve, acquit, or declare innocent’, from solvō ‘to release, to loosen, to dissolve, to take…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₁-‘to cut off, release’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*luh₁étireconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEluō‘to let go, set free’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolvō‘to release, to loosen, to dissolve, to take apart’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsolvō‘to absolve, acquit, or declare innocent’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsolvitorliterally ‘let him be acquitted’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1668same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₁-‘to cut off, release’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*luh₁étireconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEluō‘to let go, set free’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolvō‘to release, to loosen, to dissolve, to take apart’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsolvō‘to absolve, acquit, or declare innocent’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEabsolvitorliterally ‘let him be acquitted’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1668same form

Earliest quotation: 1668, James Dalrymple, Mr. Alexander Seaton contra Menzies: “Pitmedden purſues Seaton of Menzies as Repreſenting his Father,…”

The story

Borrowed from Latin absolvitor (literally “let him be acquitted”), the third-person singular future passive imperative form of absolvō (‘to absolve, acquit, or declare innocent’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- ‘to cut off, release’

lose, analysis, lease, analyst, paralysis, dialysis, palsy, paralyze, insoluble, paralytic, lysis, loess, 24 more

through Latin luō ‘to let go, set free’

resolution, resolve, dissolution, 8 more

through Latin solvō ‘to release, to loosen, to dissolve, to take…’

so, solution, solve, sol, soluble, resolute, 9 more

through Latin absolvō ‘to absolve, acquit, or declare innocent’

absolution, 3 more

Today it means

noun A decision or decree made by a court in favour of the defendant in a given action; dismissal.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- / absolvitor

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