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innocence

   Also found in: Legal, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
in·no·cence  (n-sns)
n.
1. The state, quality, or virtue of being innocent, as:
a. Freedom from sin, moral wrong, or guilt through lack of knowledge of evil.
b. Guiltlessness of a specific legal crime or offense.
c. Freedom from guile, cunning, or deceit; simplicity or artlessness.
d. Lack of worldliness or sophistication; naiveté.
e. Lack of knowledge or understanding; ignorance.
f. Freedom from harmfulness; inoffensiveness.
2. One that is innocent.
3. Botany See blue-eyed Mary.

innocence [ˈɪnəsəns]
n
the quality or state of being innocent Archaic word innocency [ˈɪnəsənsɪ]
[from Latin innocentia harmlessness, from innocēns doing no harm, blameless, from in-1 + nocēns harming, from nocēre to hurt, harm; see noxious]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.innocenceinnocence - the quality of innocent naivete      
naiveness, naivete, naivety - lack of sophistication or worldliness
innocency - an innocent quality or thing or act; "the innocencies of childhood"
2.innocence - the state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong; lacking a knowledge of evil
condition, status - a state at a particular time; "a condition (or state) of disrepair"; "the current status of the arms negotiations"
cleanness - without moral defects
3.innocence - a state or condition of being innocent of a specific crime or offense; "the trial established his innocence"
condition, status - a state at a particular time; "a condition (or state) of disrepair"; "the current status of the arms negotiations"
clear - the state of being free of suspicion; "investigation showed that he was in the clear"
guilt, guiltiness - the state of having committed an offense

innocence
noun
2. blamelessness, righteousness, clean hands, uprightness, sinlessness, irreproachability, guiltlessness He claims to have evidence which could prove his innocence.
blamelessness guilt, sinfulness, corruption, impurity, offensiveness, wrongness
3. chastity, virtue, purity, modesty, virginity, celibacy, continence, maidenhood, stainlessness She can still evoke the innocence of 14-year-old Juliet.
4. ignorance, oblivion, lack of knowledge, inexperience, unfamiliarity, greenness, unawareness, nescience (literary) 'Maybe innocence is bliss,' he suggested.
Quotations
"He's armed without that's innocent within" [Alexander Pope Epilogue to the Satires]
"Those who are incapable of committing great crimes do not readily suspect them in others" [La Rochefoucauld Maxims]
"Whoever blushes is already guilty; true innocence is ashamed of nothing" [Jean Jacques Rousseau Émile]
"It's innocence when it charms us, ignorance when it doesn't" [Mignon McLaughlin The Neurotic's Notebook]
Translations
innocence [ˈɪnəsns] Ninocencia f
in all innocencecon toda inocencia, de la forma más inocente
innocence [ˈɪnəsəns] n
(LAW)innocence f
to protest one's innocence → protester de son innocence
(= naivety) [person, child] → innocence f
innocence
n
Unschuld f; to feign innocencevorgeben, unschuldig zu sein, unschuldig tun; in all innocencein aller Unschuld
(liter, = ignorance) → Unkenntnis f
innocence [ˈɪnəsns] ninnocenza
innocence [ˈɪnəsns] ninnocenza


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
On the contrary, I declare, that to recommend goodness and innocence hath been my sincere endeavour in this history.
In its artless consciousness of innocence the look was nothing less than sublime.
Hetty's was a spring-tide beauty; it was the beauty of young frisking things, round-limbed, gambolling, circumventing you by a false air of innocence--the innocence of a young star- browed calf, for example, that, being inclined for a promenade out of bounds, leads you a severe steeplechase over hedge and ditch, and only comes to a stand in the middle of a bog.
 
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