guiltless

English

Etymology

From Middle English giltles, gultles, gyltles, from Old English *gyltlēas, equivalent to guilt +‎ -less. Compare Old English sċyldlēas (“guiltless”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɪltləs/

Adjective

guiltless (comparative more guiltless, superlative most guiltless)

1. Free from guilt; innocent.
2. Without experience or trial; unacquainted (with).
3. (humorous) Not encumbered with; free from.
   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 301:

     Their spears, wommeras, and boomerangs are guiltless of ornamentation, and save in a very few instances no idea of art seems to belong to the race.

Related terms

• guiltlessly
• guiltlessness

Translations

Free from guilt — see also innocent

• Bulgarian: невинен (bg) (nevinen), невиновен (bg) (nevinoven)
• Esperanto: senkulpa
• Finnish: syytön (fi), viaton (fi)
• German: schuldfrei (de), schuldlos
• Greek:

  Ancient: ἀναίτιος (anaítios), ἀθῷος (athôios)

• Hungarian: bűntelen (hu), ártatlan (hu)
• Latin: innocens, castus
• Ottoman Turkish: صوچسز (suçsuz)
• Turkish: suçsuz (tr)

References

• “guiltless”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “guiltless”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.