different between acquit vs excuse

English

Etymology

From Middle English aqu??ten (“to give in return; to pay, repay; to redeem (a pledge, security), to make good (a promise); to make amends; to relieve of an obligation; to acquit, clear of a charge; to free; to deprive of; to do one's part, acquit oneself; to act, behave (in a certain way)”), from Old French aquiter (“to act, do”) and Medieval Latin acquit?re (“to settle a debt”), from ad- (“prefix meaning ‘to’”) + quitare (“to free”), equivalent to a- +? quit. See quit and compare acquiet.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: ?-kw?t, IPA^(key): /??kw?t/
• Rhymes: -?t
• Hyphenation: ac?quit

Verb

acquit (third-person singular simple present acquits, present participle acquitting, simple past acquitted, past participle acquitted or (archaic) acquit)

1. (transitive) To declare or find innocent or not guilty.

   Synonyms: absolve, clear, exculpate, exonerate

   Antonyms: condemn, convict
2. (transitive) To discharge (for example, a claim or debt); to clear off, to pay off; to fulfil.
3. (transitive) Followed by of (and formerly by from): to discharge, release, or set free from a burden, duty, liability, or obligation, or from an accusation or charge.
4. (reflexive) To bear or conduct oneself; to perform one's part.
5. (reflexive) To clear oneself.
6. (transitive, archaic) past participle of acquit.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To release, to rescue, to set free.
8. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To pay for; to atone for.

Alternative forms

• acquite (obsolete)

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:acquit

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• acquittal on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• acquit in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914) , “acquit”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, volume I (A–C), revised edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., OCLC 1078064371.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ki/

Verb

acquit

1. third-person singular past historic of acquérir

English

Etymology

From Middle English excusen, borrowed from Old French escuser, from Latin exc?s?, exc?s?re (“to excuse, allege in excuse, literally, free from a charge”), from ex (“out”) + causa (“a charge”); see cause, accuse and recuse. Displaced native Old English l?dian (“to excuse”) and l?dung (“an excuse”).

Pronunciation

Verb

• (UK) enPR: ?kskyo?oz', IPA^(key): /?k?skju?z/, /?ks?kju?z/
• (US) enPR: ?kskyo?oz', IPA^(key): /?ks?kjuz/, /?ks?kjuz/
• Rhymes: -u?z

Noun

• (UK) enPR: ?kskyo?os', IPA^(key): /?k?skju?s/, /?ks?kju?s/
• (US) enPR: ?kskyo?os', IPA^(key): /?ks?kjus/, /?ks?kjus/
• Rhymes: -u?s

Verb

excuse (third-person singular simple present excuses, present participle excusing, simple past and past participle excused)

1. (transitive) To forgive; to pardon.
   • c. 1685, John Sharp, A Discourse of Conscience

     If they say that he did sin in doing this, then they must at the same time acknowledge that a man's persuasion that a thing is a duty will not excuse him from guilt in practising it

2. (transitive) To allow to leave, or release from any obligation.

3. (transitive) To provide an excuse for; to explain, with the aim of alleviating guilt or negative judgement.

4. To relieve of an imputation by apology or defense; to make apology for as not seriously evil; to ask pardon or indulgence for.

   • Think ye that we excuse ourselves to you?

Synonyms

• (to release from guilt, shame, or punishment): forgive, let off the hook, let pass, pardon, unguilt

Derived terms

• 'scuse
• excuse me
• excuse my French
• XQs

Translations

Noun

excuse (countable and uncountable, plural excuses)

1. (countable, uncountable) Explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault.
   • 1604-11, Bible (King James Version), Luke: XIV:18

     And they all with one consent began to make excuse.

2. (law) A defense to a criminal or civil charge wherein the accused party admits to doing acts for which legal consequences would normally be appropriate, but asserts that special circumstances relieve that party of culpability for having done those acts.
3. (with preceding negative adjective, especially sorry, poor or lame) An example of something that is substandard or of inferior quality.

Usage notes

• We often say to make an excuse.

Synonyms

• (explanation designed to avoid or alleviate guilt or negative judgment): pretext release, clear, justify, forgive, tolerate, overlook, exempt, pardon, discharge, pretext, bear with, acquit, exonerate, absolve, pretense, vindicate.

Translations

Further reading

• excuse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• excuse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

From excuser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k.skyz/
• (Colloquial) IPA^(key): /?s.skyz/

Noun

excuse f (plural excuses)

1. excuse

Verb

excuse

1. first-person singular present indicative of excuser
2. third-person singular present indicative of excuser
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of excuser
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of excuser
5. second-person singular imperative of excuser

Further reading

• “excuse” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Participle

exc?se

1. vocative masculine singular of exc?sus

Spanish

Verb

excuse

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of excusar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of excusar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of excusar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of excusar.