innocence

English

Wikiquote

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English [Term?], from Old French inocence, from Latin innocentia. Displaced native Old English unsċyld.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnəsn̩s/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

innocence (countable and uncountable, plural innocences)

1. Absence of responsibility for a crime, tort, etc.

   Synonym: unguilt

   Antonym: guilt

   Her attorney managed to convince the jury of her innocence.

2. Lack of understanding about sensitive subjects such as sexuality and crime.

   Synonym: naivety

   In his innocence, he offered the stranger to bring the package to Paris, never suspecting it contained drugs.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 9, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:innocence.
3. Lack of ability or intention to harm or damage.

   Synonym: harmlessness

   Antonym: harmfulness

   Tests have demonstrated the innocence of this substance.

   • 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 96:

     His unruly hair was slicked down with water, and as Jessamy introduced him to Miss Brindle his face assumed a cherubic innocence which would immediately have aroused the suspicions of anyone who knew him.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:innocence.
4. (obsolete) Imbecility; mental deficiency.

Derived terms

• presumption of innocence

Related terms

• innocent
• innocency

Translations

absence of responsibility for a crime

• Arabic: بَرَاءَة (ar) f (barāʔa)
• Armenian: անմեղություն (hy) (anmeġutʻyun)
• Belarusian: няві́ннасць f (njavínnascʹ), невінава́тасць f (njevinavátascʹ)
• Bulgarian: невинност (bg) f (nevinnost)
• Catalan: innocència (ca) f
• Czech: nevina f
• Dutch: onschuld (nl)
• Esperanto: senkulpeco
• Finnish: syyttömyys (fi)
• French: innocence (fr) f
• Galician: inocencia f
• German: Unschuld (de) f
• Gothic: 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌺𐌽𐌴𐌹 f (swiknei)
• Greek: αθωότητα (el) f (athoótita)
• Hungarian: ártatlanság (hu)
• Icelandic: sakleysi n, sýkna f
• Italian: innocenza (it) f
• Japanese: 潔白 (ja) (keppaku), 無罪 (ja) (muzai)
• Korean: 결백 (ko) (gyeolbaek), 무죄 (ko) (mujoe)
• Latin: innocentia (la)
• Latvian: nevainība f, nevainīgums m
• Malayalam: നിരപരാധിത്വം (niraparādhitvaṁ); നിഷ്കളങ്കത (ml) (niṣkaḷaṅkata)
• Old English: unsċyld f
• Ottoman Turkish: صوچسزلق (suçsuzluk)
• Polish: niewinność (pl) f
• Portuguese: inocência (pt) f
• Romanian: nevinovăție (ro) f
• Russian: неви́нность (ru) f (nevínnostʹ), невино́вность (ru) f (nevinóvnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: nȅvīnōst (sh) f, nȅdūžnōst (sh) f
• Slovene: nedolžnost f
• Spanish: inocencia (es) f
• Swedish: oskuld (sv) c, oskyldighet (sv) c
• Turkish: suçsuzluk (tr), masumiyet (tr)
• Ukrainian: неви́нність (uk) f (nevýnnistʹ), невинува́тість f (nevynuvátistʹ)

lack of understanding about sensitive subjects such as sexuality and crime

• Bulgarian: невинност (bg) f (nevinnost)
• Dutch: onschuld (nl)
• Finnish: viattomuus (fi)
• French: innocence (fr) f, candeur (fr) f
• Greek: αθωότητα (el) f (athoótita)
• Hungarian: ártatlanság (hu), naivság (hu)
• Icelandic: sakleysi n, barnaskapur m, grandaleysi n
• Japanese: 無邪気 (ja) (mujaki)
• Korean: 무사기 (musagi)
• Latin: pueritia f
• Latvian: nevainība f
• Malayalam: നിഷ്കളങ്കത (ml) (niṣkaḷaṅkata)
• Polish: niewinność (pl) f
• Portuguese: inocência (pt) f
• Russian: неви́нность (ru) f (nevínnostʹ)
• Slovene: nedolžnost f
• Swedish: oskuld (sv) c
• Tagalog: kawalang-muwang

lack of ability or intention to harm or damage

• Finnish: vaarattomuus (fi)
• German: Harmlosigkeit (de) f
• Greek: αθωότητα (el) f (athoótita)
• Hungarian: ártalmatlanság (hu)
• Icelandic: meinlaus m or f, meinlaust n, saklaus (is) m or f, saklaust n, skaðlaus (is) m or f, skaðlaust n
• Japanese: 無害 (ja) (mugai)
• Korean: 무해 (ko) (muhae), 무독 (ko) (mudok)
• Latvian: nevainība f
• Malayalam: നിഷ്കളങ്കത (ml) (niṣkaḷaṅkata)
• Old English: unsċaþfulnes f
• Ottoman Turkish: ضررسزلق (zararsızlık)
• Polish: niewinność (pl) f
• Portuguese: inocência (pt) f
• Russian: неви́нность (ru) f (nevínnostʹ)
• Slovene: nedolžnost
• Swedish: harmlöshet (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} innocenza (it) f
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} ionracas m, ^{(please verify)} neo-chiontachd f, ^{(please verify)} neo-choireachd f

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French inocence, a borrowing from Latin innocentia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.nɔ.sɑ̃s/

Noun

innocence f (plural innocences)

1. innocence

Derived terms

• présomption d’innocence

Related terms

• innocent

Further reading

• “innocence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.