Where does “innocence” come from?
Innocence derives from French inocence, from Latin innocentia, formed from the prefix in- (meaning "not") and the Latin root nocentia (from nocēre, "to harm"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European neḱ-, meaning "to kill or harm."
innocence (English): Absence of responsibility for a crime, tort, etc;...
Definitions
- Absence of responsibility for a crime, tort, etc;...
Ancestry of “innocence”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | inocence | — |
| 2 | Latin | innocentia | innocence; uprightness, integrity; vocative... |
| 3 | Latin | innocens | harmless, inoffensive, innoxious; blameless,... |
| 4 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 5 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 6 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |