different between free vs acquit

English

Etymology

From Middle English free, fre, freo, from Old English fr?o (“free”), from Proto-West Germanic *fr?, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz (“beloved, not in bondage”), from Proto-Indo-European *priHós (“dear, beloved”), from *preyH- (“to love, please”). Related to friend. Cognate with West Frisian frij (“free”), Dutch vrij (“free”), Low German free (“free”), German frei (“free”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian fri (“free”), Sanskrit ????? (priyá).

Germanic and Celtic are the only Indo-European language branches in which the PIE word with the meaning of "dear, beloved" acquired the additional meaning of "free" in the sense of "not in bondage". This was an extension of the idea of "characteristic of those who are dear and beloved", in other words friends and tribe members (in contrast to unfree inhabitants from other tribes and prisoners of war, many of which were among the slaves – compare the Latin use of liberi to mean both "free persons" and "children of a family").

The verb comes from Middle English freen, freo?en, from Old English fr?on, fr?o?an (“to free; make free”), from Proto-West Germanic *frij?n, from Proto-Germanic *frij?n?, from Proto-Indo-European *preyH-.

Pronunciation

• enPR: fr?, IPA^(key): /f?i?/, [f??i?]
• Rhymes: -i?
• Homophone: three (with th-fronting)

Adjective

free (comparative freer, superlative freest)

1. (social) Unconstrained.
   • 1610-11?, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, scene i:

     Quickly, spirit! / Thou shalt ere long be free.

   Synonyms: unconstrained, unfettered, unhindered

   Antonyms: constrained, restricted

   1. Not imprisoned or enslaved.

      Antonyms: bound, enslaved, imprisoned

   2. Unconstrained by timidity or distrust

      Synonyms: unreserved, frank, communicative
   3. Generous; liberal.

   4. (obsolete) Clear of offence or crime; guiltless; innocent.
   5. Without obligations.

   6. Thrown open, or made accessible, to all; to be enjoyed without limitations; unrestricted; not obstructed, engrossed, or appropriated; open; said of a thing to be possessed or enjoyed.
   7. Not arbitrary or despotic; assuring liberty; defending individual rights against encroachment by any person or class; instituted by a free people; said of a government, institutions, etc.

   8. (software) With no or only freedom-preserving limitations on distribution or modification.

      Synonym: libre

      Antonym: proprietary

   9. (software) Intended for release, as opposed to a checked version.
2. Obtainable without any payment.

   Synonyms: free of charge, gratis

   1. (by extension, chiefly advertising slang) complimentary

3. (abstract) Unconstrained.
   1. (mathematics) Unconstrained by relators.

   2. (mathematics, logic) Unconstrained by quantifiers.

      Antonym: bound

   3. (programming) Unconstrained of identifiers, not bound.

      Synonym: unbound

      Antonym: bound

   4. (linguistics) (of a morpheme) That can be used by itself, unattached to another morpheme.
4. (physical) Unconstrained.
   1. Unobstructed, without blockages.

      Synonyms: clear, unobstructed

      Antonyms: blocked, obstructed

   2. Unattached or uncombined.

      Synonyms: loose, unfastened; see also Thesaurus:loose

   3. Not currently in use; not taken; unoccupied.

   4. (botany, mycology) Not attached; loose.
5. Without; not containing (what is specified); exempt; clear; liberated.

   Synonym: without

6. (dated) Ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping; spirited.

7. (dated) Invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying certain immunities or privileges; admitted to special rights; followed by of.
8. (Britain, law, obsolete) Certain or honourable; the opposite of base.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)

9. (law) Privileged or individual; the opposite of common.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)

Antonyms

• unfree

Hyponyms

• -free

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adverb

free (comparative more free, superlative most free)

1. Without needing to pay.

   Synonyms: for free, for nothing

2. (obsolete) Freely; willingly.

Translations

Verb

free (third-person singular simple present frees, present participle freeing, simple past and past participle freed)

1. (transitive) To make free; set at liberty; release.
2. (transitive) To rid of something that confines or oppresses.
   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 564:

     Then I walked about, till I found on the further side, a great river of sweet water, running with a strong current; whereupon I called to mind the boat-raft I had made aforetime and said to myself, "Needs must I make another; haply I may free me from this strait. If I escape, I have my desire and I vow to Allah Almighty to forswear travel; and if I perish I shall be at peace and shall rest from toil and moil."

Derived terms

• befree

Synonyms

• befree
• emancipate
• let loose
• liberate
• manumit
• release
• unchain
• unfetter
• unshackle

Translations

Noun

free (plural frees)

1. (Australian rules football, Gaelic football) Abbreviation of free kick.
   • 2006, [1]:

     Whether deserved or not, the free gave Cresswell the chance to cover himself in glory with a shot on goal after the siren.

2. free transfer
3. (hurling) The usual means of restarting play after a foul is committed, where the non-offending team restarts from where the foul was committed.
4. (swimming) the freestyle stroke

Translations

References

Anagrams

• feer, fere, reef

Galician

Verb

free

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of frear
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of frear

Low German

Alternative forms

• frie (more common)

Etymology

From Middle Low German vrîe, variant of vrî, from Old Saxon fr?, from Proto-Germanic *frijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *prey (“new”). Compare Dutch vrij, West Frisian frij, English free, German frei.

Adjective

free (comparative fre'er, superlative freest)

1. (rather rare) free

Declension

Derived terms

• Freeheit

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