| 释义 |
innocence|ˈɪnəsəns|
Also 4–5 -ense, 4–6 -ens.
[a. F. innocence (12th c.), ad. L. innocēntia: see next and -ence.]
I. The quality or fact of being innocent.
1. Freedom from sin, guilt, or moral wrong in general; the state of being untainted with, or unacquainted with, evil; moral purity.
1340Ayenb. 146 Ine þise we onderstondeþ þe innocence þet we ssolle loki þe on a-ye þe oþre. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 143 In þo stat of innocense. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xviii. (1495) 203 Thenne were malyce free, and goodnesse and innocence neuer syker. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 70 And he, geue we beleue, hes coste His innocens for our trespas. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 373 Go in thy native innocence; relie On what thou hast of vertue. 1692South 12 Serm. (1697) I. 534 How came our first Parents to sin, and to lose their Primitive Innocence? 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 5 Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease. 1850Lynch Theo. Trinal ii. 28 Holiness is innocence made perfect. a1851Moir Poems, Message Seth, For Penitence, However deep it be, brings back not Innocence.
2. Freedom from specific guilt; the fact of not being guilty of that with which one is charged; guiltlessness.
1559Mirr. Mag., Dk. Clarence l, All the worlde dyd know myne innocence. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 208 It will helpe me nothing To plead mine Innocence; for that dye is on me Which makes my whit'st part, black. 1640Bp. Hall Chr. Moder. (ed. Ward) 37/1 If a Cajetan..shall set favourable states to our controversies, and give justly charitable testimonies to our personal innocences. 1772Junius Lett. lxviii. 336 Where the guilt is doubtful, a presumption of innocence should in general be admitted. 1853J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. i. 44 Timour..protested to the cadhi his innocence of the blood which he had shed.
3. Freedom from cunning or artifice; guilelessness, artlessness, simplicity; hence, want of knowledge or sense, ignorance, silliness.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1254 Dido, O sely wemen [v.r. woman] ful of Innocence..What makyth ȝow to men to truste so? c1450Merlin 40 When eny..complayneth to the for the kynges Innocence, and seiden thei wolden thow sholde take vpon the to be kynge. 1589Nashe Anat. Absurd. Ep. Ded. 4 Least their singularitie reflect my simplicitie, their excellence conuict me of innocence. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. v. ii. 70 The Shepheards Sonne..ha's not onely his Innocence (which seemes much) to iustifie him. 1712Addison Spect. No. 299 ⁋2 My little Daughter Harriot..asked me with a great deal of Innocence, why I never told them of the Generals and Admirals that had been in my Family. 1883C. J. Wills Mod. Persia 70 The servants, who had traded on my innocence and simulated fever.
4. Of things: Harmlessness, innocuousness.
1828Webster s.v., The innocence of a medicine which can do no harm.
II. concr.
5. An innocent person or thing (in various senses of the adj.). (In quot. 1697 collect. Innocent creatures.)
c1400Lydg. æsop's Fab. iii. 41 The sely sheepe..Stoode abasshed, ful like an innocence. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 745 The Mother Nightingale, Whose Nest some prying Churl had found, and thence, By Stealth, convey'd th' unfeather'd Innocence. 1703Farquhar Inconstant iv. iv, Stay, my fair innocence! 1777Sheridan Trip Scarb. ii. i. Wks. (1883) 296 Oh, this is better and better!—[Aloud] Well said, Innocence! 1871Tennyson Last Tourn. 31 Take thou the jewels of this dead innocence [a maiden babe].
6. A popular name of Houstonia cærulea, a North American plant, with small blue four-cleft flowers, also called Bluet.
1821W. P. C. Barton Flora N. Amer. I. 119 Fairy⁓flax-Bluett. Innocence. Venus' Pride. 1863Rep. Comm. Agric. 1862 (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 159 The ‘Bluets’, ‘Innocence’, ‘Dwarf Pink’, with, perhaps, some other common name, is one of the prettiest ornaments of our spring meadows. 1892Jrnl. Amer. Folk-Lore V. 97 Houstonia cœrulea, innocence. Boston, Mass. 1954C. J. Hylander Macmillan Wild Flower Bk. 389 This familiar wild flower, also known as Innocence and Quaker-ladies, is a tufted or matted plant. |