Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “acquit” come from?

Acquit comes from Old French aquiter, meaning to pay a debt or discharge an obligation.

acquit (English): To declare or find innocent or not guilty; To...

Definitions

  1. To declare or find innocent or not guilty; To...

Ancestry of “acquit”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishaquī̆ten—
2Medieval Latinacquitareto settle a debt
3Latinad-to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it...
4Latinīn-—
5Latinîn—
6Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
7Proto-Italicenin
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “acquit”

  • acquittal
  • acquitter
  • acquitment
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →