| 释义 |
innocent, a. and n.|ˈɪnəsənt|
Also 4 innos(s)ent, in-oscente, 4–6 innocente, ynnocent, 5–6 inocent(e.
[a. F. innocent, OF. pl. -enz, -ens (Roland, 11th c.), ad. L. innocēnt-em, f. in- (in-3) + nocēnt-em, pr. pple. of nocēre to hurt, injure.]
A. adj.
1. a. Of persons: Doing no evil; free from moral wrong, sin, or guilt (in general); pure, unpolluted. Usually (in mod. use always) implying ‘unacquainted with evil’ (thus freq. of little children; whence passing into sense 5); but formerly sometimes in more general sense (e.g. of God or Christ), Sinless, holy.
a1340Hampole Psalter xvii. 28 With man innocent innocent þou sall be. 1382Wyclif Ps. xxiii[i]. 4 The innocent in hondis and in clene herte. ― Heb. vii. 26 Hooly, innosent, inpolute, departid fro synful men. 1513More Rich. III, Wks. 67/1 The lamentable murther of his innoocent nephewes, the young king and his tender brother. 1556Aurelio & Isab. (1608) I ij, Be the handes of God was the firste woman createde, innocente, and withoute spotte. 1669Shadwell R. Shepherdess iii. Wks. 1720 I. 257 They are the happiest innocentest people in the world. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 200 Many Innocent Infants, whom the Mothers had hid..were Murdered and Buried there. 1784Cowper Task i. 494 The innocent are gay—the lark is gay. 1851Maurice Patriarchs & Lawg. ii. (1867) 51 When we say that God made man innocent, What do we mean?
transf.1500–20Dunbar Poems ix. 158 Every straik mak throw my hart a stound, That evir did stenȝie thy fair flesche innocent. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (1531) 10 That most innocent body..of the immaculate lambe Jesu Chryst. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. i. 39 The big round tears Cours'd one another downe his [a stag's] innocent nose In pitteous chase.
b. fig. Spotless, stainless.
1629Milton Nativ. 39 She woos the gentle air To hide her guilty front with innocent snow.
2. a. Free from specific wrong or guilt; that has not committed the particular offence charged or in question; not deserving of the punishment or suffering inflicted; not guilty, guiltless, unoffending. innocent blood, the blood (or life) of the innocent. innocent party [party n. 11], in matrimonial proceedings, the person adjudged to be innocent.
Since the Divorce Reform Act 1969 the usage has been legally obsolete in England, since that Act abolished the concept of a matrimonial offence as a ground for divorce and substituted for it the concept of irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.
1382Wyclif 1 Sam. xxvi. 9 Who shal stretche his hoond into the crist of the Lord, and shal be innocent? ― Ps. xciii[i]. 21 The innocent blod thei shul condempne. 1484Caxton Fables of Alfonce 1 Ye shold do grete synne yf ye dyd put this Innocent and gyltles to deth. 1526Tindale Matt. xxvii. 4, I have synned betraynge the innocent bloud. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 158 b, The bloudde of the Innocente man was with his dolorous death, recompensed. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxi. 109 A Soveraign Prince, that putteth to death an Innocent Subject. 1670Marvell Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 350 The Lieutenancy..pick out Hays and Jekill, the innocentest of the whole party, to show their power on. 1729G. Jacob New Law-Dict., Divorce: In Divorces for Adultery, several Acts of Parliament have allowed the Innocent Party to marry again. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxxvi. 286 Persons not lying under any sense of attainder were still innocent in the eye of the law. 1835Tomlins's Law Dict. (ed. 4) I. (s.v. Divorce), The commissioners appointed by Henry VIII. and Edward VI...recommend divorces à mensa et thoro to be abolished, and complete divorces to be allowed for adultery, desertion, bad treatment, &c., the innocent party to be allowed to marry again. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. (1871) I. 117 While innocent blood was shedding under the forms of justice. Ibid. vi. II. 41 The innocent began to breathe freely, and false accusers to tremble. 1948J. H. S. Bossard Sociol. of Child Devel. xvi. 369 One principle usually observed is that custody goes to the so-called innocent party. 1958Daily Mail 3 July 4/8 When are we going to hear the last of that time-worn phrase so beloved of newspaper columnists and the legal profession—‘innocent party’? 1959Jowitt Dict. Eng. Law I. 67/2 The Matrimonial Causes Act, 1857..created a Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes..which would grant to the innocent party a divorce a mensa et thoro on the ground of the other's adultery.
transf.1590Spenser F.Q. i. ii. 24 Of whose most innocent death When tidings came to mee, unhappy maid.
b. Const. of (formerly also from).
1513More Rich. III (1883) 18, I dare well aunswere for myne vncle Riuers and my brother here, that thei be innocent of any such matters. 1526Tindale Matt. xxvii. 24, I am innocent of the bloud of this iuste person. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 69 Our Kinsman Gloster is as innocent, From meaning Treason to our Royall Person, As is the sucking Lambe, or harmelesse Doue. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 738 The Peasant, innocent of all these Ills. 1814Cary Dante, Paradise xxv. 105 Innocent of worse intent Than to do fitting honour to the bride. Mod. Entirely innocent of the crime with which he was charged.
c. colloq. with of: Free from; devoid of. (A humorous transference or weakening of prec.)
1706Addison Rosamond Prol., The Opera..Enrich'd with songs, but innocent of thought. 1743Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 428 The Sermon..was quite innocent of meaning. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales II. 180 His clothes..were quite innocent of a fit. 1884J. Colborne Hicks Pasha 60 The windows are small apertures..innocent of glass.
3. a. Having or showing the simplicity, ignorance, artlessness, or unsuspecting nature of a child or one ignorant of the world; devoid of cunning or artifice; simple, guileless, unsuspecting; hence, artless, naive, ingenuous.
1382Wyclif Prov. xxii. 3 The innocent passede and is tormentid with harm. c1386Chaucer Clerk's T. 218 Grisilde of this, god woot, ful Innocent That for hire shapen was al this array. 1390Gower Conf. III. 169 Ful ofte Deceived ben with wordes softe The kinges, that ben innocent. c1440Generydes 951 Of all this werk the kyng was innocent And of ther falsed no thing perceyuyd. 1535Coverdale Esther xvi. 6 Which also with false and disceatfull wordes..disceaue and betraye the innocent goodnes of prynces. 1711Steele Spect. No. 118 ⁋3 For all she looks so innocent as it were, take my Word for it she is no Fool. 1859C. Reade Love me Little xiv, Shall I tell you your real character?..You are an innocent fox! 1875A. W. Ward Eng. Dram. Lit. I. 7 Chaucer indeed made a very innocent use of the words tragedy and comedy when he applied them simply to poems ending happily or unhappily.
b. Deficient in intelligence or sense; silly, half-witted, imbecile: cf. B. 3 b. Now dial.
1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 169 That he was either a childe, whiche had nede of norice..or an innocent creature, whiche muste be ruled by a tutor. Ibid., Edw. IV 210 He was a man of no great wit, suche as men comonly call an Innocent man, neither a foole, neither very wyse. 1688Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 342 To John Dods for keeping the innocent boy, 1l. 1706Phillips, Innocent, inoffensive,..harmless, also simple, or silly. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia s.v., ‘An innocent man’..is an extremely common expression for a silly fellow.
4. Of actions, etc.: Free from guilt or moral evil; not arising from or involving any evil intent or motive. Often blending with 5: Producing no morally bad result; morally harmless.
1514Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 19 Ryght so he named men meke & pacyent, His flocke & his shepe, for maners innocent. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xiii. (1848) 258 The Innocentest use that we are wont to make of our time. 1676tr. Guillatiere's Voy. Athens 214 Mahometan Ladies..would come to his House to play their innocent tricks. 1728Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 II. 3, I think no pleasure innocent, that is to man hurtful. 1848A. Tod Disc. 102, I mean not to condemn innocent hilarity. 1893Sir J. W. Chitty in Law Times Rep. LXVIII. 429/1 The case..is one, not of innocent misrepresentation, but of fraudulent misrepresentation.
5. a. Of things: Doing no harm; producing no ill effect or result; not injurious; harmless, innocuous. (In Path. opposed to malignant.)
1662H. More Philosophical Writings Pref. Gen. (1712) 20 How innocent and inoffensive that doctrine was in the more pure and intemerate Ages of the Church. 1703W. Dampier Voy. III. 68 A sort of..Calabash or Gourd-kind..It is of a sharp and pleasing Taste, and is very innocent. 1712Budgell Spect. No. 283 ⁋17 His Powder upon Examination being found very innocent. 1715–20Pope Iliad xv. 547 The shaft with brazen head Fell innocent, and on the dust lay dead. 1758Descr. Thames 207 The Flesh is white, soft, innocent, and nourishing. 1804Abernethy Surg. Obs. 94 note, Tumours of an innocent nature commonly increase in an equal ratio. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 370 Pressure on these nerves in innocent stricture of the gullet is rare.
b. That does not transgress the law; lawful. innocent conveyance, a conveyance which does not have any tortious operation, one which does not create a discontinuance or result in forfeiture.
All conveyances are now innocent by statute in England and in the United States.
1811E. B. Sugden Gilbert's Law of Uses & Trusts (ed. 3) 232 A conveyance by lease and release is like a bargain and sale, and covenant to stand seised what is termed an innocent conveyance. 1828Webster, Innocent..4. Lawful; permitted; as, an innocent trade. 5. Not contraband; not subject to forfeiture; as, innocent goods carried to a belligerent nation. Kent. 1841H. J. Stephen New Comm. Laws Eng. I. 508 The other conveyances can, in their nature, pass no more than the grantor might lawfully transfer. For this reason, they have received, by way of distinction from a feoffment, (and others now abolished of the like nature,) the appellation of innocent conveyances. 1848Wharton Law Lexicon 322/2 Innocent conveyances, a covenant to stand seised, a bargain and sale, and release, so called, because since they convey the actual possession by construction of law only, they do not confer a larger estate in property than the person conveying possesses. 1937W. S. Holdsworth Hist. Eng. Law VII. 357 Both a bargain and sale and a covenant to stand seised were, unlike a feoffment, ‘innocent’ conveyances.
6. Comb.
1621Lady M. Wroth Urania 182 Twas not sillines..that made that innocent-like fashion shew in me. 1799Malthus Diary 30 June (1966) 108 He was a remarkably meek & innocent looking man. 1830Tennyson Lilian ii, So innocent-arch, so cunning-simple. 1838Lett. fr. Madras xxi. (1843) 213 Have you heard of the Cooly Trade? ‘Emigration of Hill Coolies to the Mauritius’ it is called, and divers other innocent-sounding names. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy xxiii. 207 He came up quite innocent-like to the corner. 1860F. & J. Greenwood Under Cloud III. xiv. 307 The jovial, innocent-hearted actor. 1895A. W. Pinero Second Mrs. Tanqueray i. 42 Paula..is..beautiful, fresh, innocent-looking. 1925Blunden Eng. Poems 19 So innocent-gay was her look. 1955E. Bowen World of Love xi. 212 Banks were innocent-blue with scabious. 1959J. L. Austin Sense & Sensibilia (1962) i. 4 In philosophy it is often good policy, where one member of a putative pair falls under suspicion, to view the more innocent-seeming party suspiciously as well. 1962Y. Olsson in F. Behre Contrib. Eng. Syntax 87 Like innocent-looking people, even the most innocent-looking personal pronouns are deeper than one would be led to believe.
B. n. (In 4 pl. innocens, innocenz, -ntz.)
1. a. An innocent person; one not disposed to do harm, or unacquainted with evil: see A. 1.
[c1200Vices & Virtues 79 Se ðe ne nimð none mede of ða innocentes, ðat bien uneilinde menn ðe none manne euel ne willeð.] 13..Ipotis 71 (Vernon MS.) in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 342 Þe feorþe heuene is gold iliche..To Innocens þat place is diht. c1386Chaucer Sompn. T. 275 Ye..chiden heere the sely Innocent Youre wyf that is so meke and pacient. 1390Gower Conf. I. 175 All to deceive an innocent, Whiche woll not be of her assent. 1483Cath. Angl. 196/2 An Innocent, innocens, innoxius. 1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 267 Be of ȝour luke like innocentis, thoght ȝe haif euill myndis. 1604Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 199 Thou hast kill'd the sweetest innocent, That ere did lift vp eye. 1711Addison Spect. No. 198 ⁋1 Like good queen Emma, the pretty Innocent walks blindfold among burning Plough-shares, without being scorched or singed by them. 1873Browning Red Cott. Nt.-cap 205 A pair of innocents Who thought their wedded hands not clean enough To touch and leave unsullied their soul's snow!
†b. One innocent of a charge, or undeserving of the punishment inflicted; a guiltless person: see A. 2. Obs.
c1340Hampole Prose Tr. 11 Thay are slaers gastely..þat defames men, and þat confoundes innocentys. c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. (E.E.T.S.) 53 To helpe simple men, to vpbere þe defautes of Innocentz. 1526Tindale Matt. xii. 7 Ye wold never have condemned innocentes. 1631Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 49 For hope of gaine he had combyned with the Lord Sarsfield to indict, convict, and execute one Philip Bushell, an innocent, for a supposed murther. 1707J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. iii. viii. 339 Those who shall conspire to indict an Innocent falsely and maliciously of Felony. 1748Richardson Clarissa (1811) IV. 89 You will save from ruin a multitude of innocents.
2. a. esp. A young child, as being free from actual sin, or unacquainted with evil (see A. 1); spec. in pl. (with capital), the young children slain by Herod after the birth of Jesus (Matt. ii. 16), reckoned from early times as Christian martyrs (also called the Holy Innocents).
c1325Lai Le Freine 164 And help this seli innocent, That it mot y-cristned be. a1340Hampole Psalter ii. 2 Herode, þt sloghe þe innocenz. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) ix. 36 Vnder þe cloistre..es þe Charnell of þe Innocentz, whare þaire banes lies. 1548Hall Chron., Rich. III 34 b, When I was credibly enformed of the death of the .ii. younge innocentes, his awne natural nephewes. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 98 The seventh and last of these innocent creatures, is an innocent indeed, a child. 1704Nelson Fest. & Fasts viii. (1739) 101 The Martyrdom of the Holy Innocents. 1863Kingsley Water Bab. v. (1886) 221 They were all there, except, of course, the babes of Bethlehem who were killed by wicked King Herod; for they were taken straight to heaven long ago, as everybody knows, and we call them the Holy Innocents.
b. (Holy) Innocents' Day, the 28th of December, observed as a church festival in commemoration of the slaughter of the Innocents. (Formerly called Childermas.)
1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Introits, etc., The Innocentes Daye. 1658Phillips, Innocents day, the 28 of December..also called Childermas day. 1683Wood Life (O.H.S.) III. 38 Innocents day..a very cold day. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xvi, I can make bodily oath to the bonnets I made for them since last Innocents'.
c. fig. in pl. (Parliamentary slang.) Applied to measures ‘sacrificed’ at the end of a session for want of time; usually in phr. massacre or slaughter of the innocents.
1859Times 20 July 7/3 (Farmer) The Leader of the House would have to go through that doleful operation called the massacre of the innocents. 1870London Figaro 6 Aug. (ibid.), So vigorously has the slaughter of the innocents been proceeding that the Appropriation Bill was read a first time in the House of Commons on Wednesday. 1887Spectator 20 Aug., At this period of the Session, amongst the ‘innocents’, this innocentest of the innocents is not destined to be spared the sacrificial knife.
3. a. A guileless, simple, or unsuspecting person; one devoid of cunning or artifice; hence, b. One wanting in ordinary knowledge or intelligence; a simpleton, a silly fellow; a half-wit, an idiot.
c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 523 O sely preest, o sely Innocent With coueitise anon thou shalt be blent. 1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 98 In body deformed, in minde foolish, an innocent borne. 1593R. Harvey Philad. 91 That he might do what he list in the kingdome under such an innocent and milksop. 1598Faversham Par. Reg. (MS.), Buryed, Margery, an innocent from the Abby. 1694R. L'Estrange Fables (ed. 6) ccccxxxviii. 475 There was just such another Innocent as this, in my Father's Family. 1706Phillips, An Innocent, an Idiot, or Ninny, a silly, half-witted Person. 1814Scott Wav. ix, ‘He is an innocent, sir’, said the butler..Waverley learned..from this colloquy; that in Scotland..a natural fool [was called] an innocent. 1838James Robber vi, The man is a poor innocent whom I have known this many a year.
4. Herb. = innocence 6. U.S.
(Herb) St. Innocent (F. Herbe de S. Innocent Cotgr.), Knot-grass, Polygonum aviculare.
1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 45 Some doe make in like manner Neck-laces and Bracelets of the hearbe S. Innocent. 1855‘Marion Harland’ Hidden Path xxxiii. 324 Filling his hat with wild violets, sorrel, and the frail, azure innocents.
Add:[A.] [2.] d. Entirely free of responsibility for or involvement in an event, and yet suffering circumstantially from it. Also absol. with the. Freq. as innocent bystander, innocent victim.
1825T. Hook Sayings & Doings 2nd Ser. II. ii. 103 Because, says I to myself, says I, it may save them there unfortunate, innocent people. 1895Conrad Almayer's Folly ix. 184 A man who..took the lives of innocent men to escape the punishment he deserved for breaking the law. 1939G. B. Shaw Geneva 70 Laying a mine in the high seas to slaughter innocent travellers whose intentions,..if they have any intentions, are entirely friendly. 1942E. Paul Narrow St. xxiv. 214 Among the innocent bystanders to suffer was Mlle. Jeanne Chautemps, niece of the Premier. 1965A. J. P. Taylor Eng. Hist. 1914–45 xiv. 492 The Home Guard harrassed [sic] innocent citizens for their identity cards. 1985Brit. Med. Jrnl. 3 Aug. 312/1 The drug and its antibody may have formed immune complexes that attached loosely to red cells and triggered complement activation, resulting in acute intravascular haemolysis; this is an ‘innocent bystander’ reaction. 1986Listener 8 May 2/3 The terrorists didn't care much whether the plane might blow up over the United States, the Republic of Ireland or the United Kingdom. The nature of terror is not to worry unduly about the innocent. 1990Newsweek 16 July 24/3 Gunmen often don't show remorse for bystanders caught in the cross-fire. ‘Now they call those innocent victims ‘mushrooms’, meaning they get underfoot, so you trample them.’
[B.] [1.] c. One involved by chance in a situation in which he or she has no part or influence, esp. a civilian injured in a military or terrorist attack.
1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War i. iii. 29 He seemed to be an innocent who had unwittingly strayed into a den of practical jokers. 1989Independent 23 Nov. 36/2 Members of the US ‘Charlie Platoon’ confessed how, in 1968, they massacred a Vietnamese village, murdering more than 500 innocents. 1991Time 15 July 36/1 Totalitarianism dies hard, taking innocents with it. But the Soviet military campaign against the Baltics has a spasmodic, last-gasp quality. |