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Webster 1913 Edition


Exonerate

Ex-on′er-ate

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Exonerated
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Exonerating
.]
[L.
exoneratus
, p. p. of
exonerare
to free from a burden;
ex
out, from
onerare
to load,
onus
load. See
Onerous
.]
1.
To unload; to disburden; to discharge.
[Obs.]
All
exonerate
themselves into one common duct.
Ray.
2.
To relieve, in a moral sense, as of a charge, obligation, or load of blame resting on one; to clear of something that lies upon oppresses one, as an accusation or imputation;
as, to
exonerate
one’s self from blame, or from the charge of avarice
.
Burke.
Syn. – To absolve; acquit; exculpate. See
Absolve
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Exonerate

EXON'ERATE

,
Verb.
T.
egzon'erate. [L. exonero; ex and onero, to load, onus, a load.]
1.
To unload; to disburden.
The vessels exonerate themselves into a common duct.
But more generally, in a figurative sense.
2.
To cast off, as a charge or as blame resting on one; to clear of something that lies upon the character as an imputation; as, to exonerate one's self from blame, or from the charge of avarice.
3.
To cast off, as an obligation, debt or duty; to discharge of responsibility or liability; as, a surety exonerates himself by producing a man in court.

Definition 2024


exonerate

exonerate

English

Verb

exonerate (third-person singular simple present exonerates, present participle exonerating, simple past and past participle exonerated)

  1. (transitive, now rare) To relieve (someone or something) of a load; to unburden (a load).
  2. (obsolete, reflexive) Of a body of water, to discharge (oneself), empty oneself.
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.ii.3:
      I would examine the Caspian Sea, and see where and how it exonerates itself, after it hath taken in Volga, Iaxartes, Oxus, and those great rivers; at the mouth of Obi, or where?
  3. (transitive) To free from an obligation, responsibility or task.
  4. (transitive) To free from accusation or blame.

Translations

Synonyms


Latin

Verb

exonerāte

  1. first-person plural present active imperative of exonerō