innocent

See also: Innocent

English

Alternative forms

• hinnocent

Etymology

From Middle English innocent, from Old French innocent, inocent, borrowed from Latin innocēns (“harmless, inoffensive”), from in- (“not”) + nocēns, present participle of noceō (“to hurt”). By surface analysis, in- (“not”) +‎ nocent (“harmful; guilty”). Displaced native Old English unsċyldiġ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪnəsənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

innocent (comparative more innocent, superlative most innocent)

2. Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.

   I'm sure there's an innocent explanation for all this.

   The situation certainly looked bad, but it turned out that everything was innocent.

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], line 16:

     to offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb to appease an angry god

   • 2018 September 26, Brian Karem, "Bethesda Resident Describes "Culture Of Privilege" Leading To Exploitation And Abuse" in The Montgomery County Sentinel[1]

     "These were not innocent times," she said.

3. Bearing no legal responsibility for a wrongful act.
4. Without wrongful intent; accidental or in good faith.

   He didn't mean anything by it; it was an innocent mistake.

   The child's innocent question revealed the embarrassing truth in front of everyone.

5. Naive; artless.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, scene v], page ii, line 37:

     I can find out no rhyme to / 'lady' but 'baby' – an innocent rhyme;

6. (obsolete except medicine) Not harmful; innocuous; harmless; benign.
   • 1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book XXII”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:

     The spear / Sung innocent, and spent its force in air.

   • 2006, David J. Driscoll, Fundamentals of Pediatric Cardiology, page 43:

     Although an innocent murmur is not an obstacle to participation in sports and exercise, a pathologic murmur may necessitate restrictions on the child's physical activity.

7. (with of) Lacking (something), or knowledge of it.
   • 1929, Agatha Christie, chapter 17, in The Seven Dials Mystery‎^[2]:

     George was not a believer in modern innovations. The Abbey was innocent of anything so up to date as central heating.

   • 1960 September, “Talking of Trains: Progress at Stafford”, in Trains Illustrated, page 522:

     At the beginning of July Stafford station was innocent of buildings, except for a couple of coach bodies to house the staff, but the temporary accommodation to cover the period of building the new station was well on the way to completion.

   • 1983, Judith Martin, Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, page xvii:

     Her only slight comfort is that they are not as bad as the new litter of Awful children who resulted from this marriage, Lisa, Adam, Jason, and Kristen. By all reports, they are entirely innocent of manners of any kind.

8. Lawful; permitted.

   an innocent trade

9. Not contraband; not subject to forfeiture.

   innocent goods carried to a belligerent nation

Synonyms

• (free from blame or guilt): sackless, guiltless
• (free from sin): pure, untainted
• (naive): See also Thesaurus:naive

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “bearing no legal responsibility for a wrongful act”): guilty, nocent
• (antonym(s) of “naive”): perverse

Derived terms

• innocent agent
• innocent as a lamb
• innocent as a newborn babe
• innocent as the babe unborn
• innocent as the child unborn
• innocent bystander
• innocent passage

Related terms

• innocence
• innocently
• innocuous

Translations

pure, free from sin, untainted

• Amharic: ንጹሐን (nəṣuḥän)
• Arabic: بَرِيء (ar) m (barīʔ), بَرِيئَة (ar) f (barīʔa)
• Armenian: անմեղ (hy) (anmeġ)
• Azerbaijani: günahsız, məsum
• Belarusian: няві́нны (njavínny), бязві́нны (bjazvínny)
• Bengali: নির্দোষ (bn) (nirdōś), মাসুম (bn) (maśum)
• Bulgarian: неви́нен (bg) (nevínen)
• Catalan: innocent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無猜 / 无猜 (zh) (wúcāi)

• Czech: nevinný
• Dutch: onnozel (nl), onschuldig (nl)
• Esperanto: senpeka
• Finnish: viaton (fi)
• French: innocent (fr)
• Galician: inocente (gl)
• German: rein (de)
• Gothic: 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌺𐌽𐍃 (swikns)
• Greek: αθώος (el) (athóos)
• Hebrew: תָּמִים (he) m (tamím), חף מפשע (he) m (khaf mipésha)
• Hindi: निर्दोष (hi) (nirdoṣ)
• Hungarian: ártatlan (hu)
• Japanese: 無邪気な (ja) (むじゃきな, mujaki na)
• Korean: 순진하다 (ko) (sunjinhada)
• Kyrgyz: күнөөсүз (ky) (künöösüz), айыпсыз (ky) (ayıpsız)
• Latin: innocēns
• Latvian: nevainīgs
• Macedonian: невин (nevin)
• Maori: harakore
• Marathi: निर्दोष (nirdoṣ)
• Mongolian: гэмгүй (gemgüj), ариун (mn) (ariun)
• Old English: unsċyldiġ, unsċaþful
• Ottoman Turkish: صوچسز (suçsuz), كناهسز (günahsız)
• Persian: بیگناه (fa) (bigonâh)
• Polish: niewinny (pl) m
• Portuguese: inocente (pt)
• Romanian: inocent (ro)
• Russian: неви́нный (ru) (nevínnyj), безви́нный (ru) (bezvínnyj)
• Sanskrit: निर्दोष (sa) (nirdoṣa)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: невин

  Roman: nevin (sh)

• Slovak: nevinný
• Slovene: nedolžen (sl)
• Spanish: inocente (es)
• Tagalog: walang-sala
• Telugu: నిర్దోషి (te) (nirdōṣi)
• Thai: บริสุทธิ์ (th) (bɔɔ-rí-sùt)
• Turkish: suçsuz (tr), masum (tr)
• Ukrainian: неви́нний (nevýnnyj), безви́нний (uk) (bezvýnnyj)
• Urdu: نردوش (nirdoś)
• Vietnamese: trong sạch (vi)
• Walloon: enocin (wa)
• Welsh: diniwed (cy)

not legally responsible for a wrongful act

• Arabic: بَرِيء (ar) (barīʔ), بَرِيئَة (ar) f (barīʔa)
• Armenian: անմեղ (hy) (anmeġ)
• Azerbaijani: günahsız, suçsuz, təqsirsiz
• Basque: errugabe
• Belarusian: няві́нны (njavínny), невінава́ты (njevinaváty)
• Bulgarian: невино́вен (bg) (nevinóven), неви́нен (bg) (nevínen)
• Catalan: innocent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無辜 / 无辜 (zh) (wúgū), 無罪 / 无罪 (zh) (wúzuì)

• Czech: nevinný
• Danish: uskyldig (da)
• Dutch: onschuldig (nl)
• Esperanto: senkulpa
• Finnish: syytön (fi)
• French: innocent (fr)
• Galician: inocente (gl)
• German: unschuldig (de)
• Greek: αθώος (el) (athóos)

  Ancient: ἀθῷος (athôios)

• Hebrew: לא אשם m (lo ashém), חף מפשע (he) m (khaf mipésha)
• Hindi: मासूम (hi) (māsūm), निर्दोष (hi) (nirdoṣ)
• Hungarian: ártatlan (hu)
• Icelandic: saklaus (is), ámælislaus
• Irish: neamhchiontach
• Italian: innocente (it)
• Japanese: 無罪な (ja) (むざいな, muzai na)
• Korean: 무죄인 (mujoe-in)
• Kyrgyz: кылмышсыз (kılmışsız)
• Latin: innocēns
• Latvian: nevainīgs
• Luxembourgish: onschëlleg
• Macedonian: невин (nevin)
• Mongolian: гэм буруугүй (gem buruugüj)
• Norwegian: uskyldig

  Nynorsk: uskuldig, uskyldig

• Old English: unsċyldiġ, saclēas
• Old Norse: saklauss
• Ottoman Turkish: صوچسز (suçsuz), كناهسز (günahsız)
• Persian: بیگناه (fa) (bigonâh)
• Polish: niewinny (pl) m
• Portuguese: inocente (pt)
• Romanian: nevinovat (ro) m
• Russian: невино́вный (ru) (nevinóvnyj), невинова́тый (ru) (nevinovátyj) (colloquial)
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} neo-chiontach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: невин, недужан

  Roman: nevin (sh), nedužan (sh)

• Slovak: nevinný
• Slovene: nedolžen (sl)
• Spanish: inocente (es)
• Swedish: oskyldig (sv)
• Turkish: suçsuz (tr)
• Ukrainian: невинува́тий (nevynuvátyj), неви́нний (nevýnnyj)
• Urdu: معصوم (māsūm)
• Vietnamese: vô tội (vi)
• Walloon: enocin (wa)
• Yiddish: אומשולדיק (umshuldik)

naive, artless

• Arabic: بَرِيء (ar) (barīʔ)
• Armenian: անմեղ (hy) (anmeġ)
• Azerbaijani: məsum
• Bulgarian: наивен (bg) (naiven), простодушен (bg) (prostodušen)
• Catalan: innocent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 天真 (zh) (tiānzhēn)

• Finnish: viaton (fi), harmiton (fi), naiivi (fi)
• Galician: inocente (gl)
• Greek: αθώος (el) (athóos)
• Hebrew: תָּמִים (he) m (tamím)
• Hungarian: ártatlan (hu)
• Irish: soineanta
• Japanese: 無邪気な (ja) (むじゃきな, mujaki na), お人好しな (ja) (おひとよしな, ohitoyoshi na)
• Polish: niewinny (pl), naiwny (pl)
• Portuguese: inocente (pt)
• Russian: неви́нный (ru) (nevínnyj), безви́нный (ru) (bezvínnyj)
• Walloon: enocin (wa)

harmless in intent

• Azerbaijani: məsum
• Bulgarian: безвреден (bg) (bezvreden), доброкачествен (за тумор) (dobrokačestven (za tumor))
• Catalan: innocent (ca)
• Finnish: viaton (fi), harmiton (fi)
• Galician: inocente (gl)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} ártalmatlan (hu)
• Latvian: nevainīgs
• Ottoman Turkish: ضررسز (zararsız), زیانسز (ziyansız)
• Portuguese: inocente (pt)
• Russian: неви́нный (ru) (nevínnyj)
• Walloon: enocin (wa)
• Welsh: diniwed (cy)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} unschuldig (de)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} nekulpabla
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} innocente
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} innocente (it)
• Scottish Gaelic: ^{(please verify)} ionraic, ^{(please verify)} maoth, ^{(please verify)} neo-choireach, ^{(please verify)} socharach
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} nȅvīn (sh), ^{(please verify)} nȅdūžan (sh)
• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} nedolžen (sl)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} inocente (es)

Noun

innocent (plural innocents)

1. One who is innocent, especially a young child.

   The slaughter of the innocents was a significant event in the New Testament.

   • 1991 February 11, Jennifer Justice, “Farewell Lavender Hearts”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 29, page 9:

     We were asked to strike that impossible balance between being innocents and whores.

2. (obsolete) A harmless simple-minded person; an idiot.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin innocentem (“harmless, inoffensive”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ent

Adjective

innocent m or f (masculine and feminine plural innocents)

1. innocent

Derived terms

• innocentment

Related terms

• innocència
• innocentada

Further reading

• “innocent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “innocent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “innocent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “innocent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Old French inocent, borrowed from Latin innocentem (“harmless, inoffensive”, from in- (“not”) +‎ nocēns (present participle of noceō (“to hurt”))).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.nɔ.sɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

innocent (feminine innocente, masculine plural innocents, feminine plural innocentes)

1. innocent

Derived terms

• innocemment
• innocent comme l’agneau qui vient de naître
• innocent comme l’enfant qui vient de naître

Related terms

• innocence
• innocenter

Noun

innocent m (plural innocents, feminine innocente)

1. an innocent person
2. (figurative) a naive person
3. (Quebec) a stupid or foolish person

Further reading

• “innocent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.