See Also: innocence(medicine)
innocence(dictionary)
innocence(dictionary)
Presumption Of Innocence(law)
INNOCENCE, The absence of guilt(law)

innocence (iou)



innocence noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French from Latin innocentia, from innocent-: see INNOCENT, -ENCE. Cf. INNOCENCY.]
a. Freedom from sin or guilt in general; the state of being untouched by evil; moral purity. ME.
R. South How came our first Parents to sin, and to lose their Primitive Innocence?
b. Freedom from specific guilt; the fact of not being guilty of a charge; guiltlessness. M16.
Freedom from cunning or artifice; guilelessness, artlessness, simplicity, lack of suspicion; lack of knowledge or sense, naivety. LME.
Addison My little Daughter..asked me with a great deal of innocence, why I never told them. B. Emecheta None of them wished to display their innocence..by asking any more questions.
An innocent person or thing. Now rare. LME.
Harmlessness, innocuousness. rare. E19.
Botany. = BLUET (b). US. E19.
Phrases: INJURED innocence.