assoilzie

English edit

Etymology edit

A Scottish variant of assoil, from Scottish Middle English assolyhe, assolȝe, retaining the -le- or -li- sounds of Anglo-Norman as(s)oilier and Old French as(s)oille which were dropped in modern English spoken in England.^[1]

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /əˈsɔɪl(j)ɪ/
Hyphenation: as‧soil‧zie

Verb edit

assoilzie (third-person singular simple present assoilzies, present participle assoilzieing or assoilzying, simple past and past participle assoilzied)

(transitive, Scotland) Synonym of assoil.
1. (archaic) To absolve or release (someone) from blame or sin; to forgive, to pardon.
  - 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XV, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 301:
    There is more than mere strength, there seems as if the whole soul and spirit of the champion were given to every blow which he deals upon his enemies. God assoilzie him of the sin of bloodshed!—it is fearful, yet magnificent, to behold how the arm and heart of one man can triumph over hundreds.
  - 1830, [Mary Shelley], chapter [XVI], in The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck, […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 306:
    "Cousin," replied Desmond, "one son of York made my father, whose soul God assoilzie! Lord Deputy; another chopped off his head—so much for the White Rose! […]"
2. (law) Followed by from or of: to acquit (someone) from a criminal charge; to find (someone) not guilty; to clear.
  - 1826, Robert Bell, William Bell, “CRIMINAL PROSECUTION”, in A Dictionary of the Law of Scotland, 3rd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] John Anderson & Co. […], and Bell & Bradfute, →OCLC, page 334:
    The verdict, when in writing, is authenticated by the subscriptions of the chancellor and clerk of the jury, and accompanied with a list of the names of the jurors, and a state of the vote of each individual, "whether condemning or assoilzieing;" Regulations 1672, No. 9.
  - 2017, Sheriff Ross, Macdonald v. Clydesdale Bank:
    In these circumstances, I will uphold the defender’s fourth plea-in-law […] and assoilzie the defender from the craves of the initial writ.

References edit

^ “assoil, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021.