in civil law, is a sentence whereby the party accused is declared innocent of the crime laid to his charge.—Among the Romans, the ordinary method of pronouncing judgment was this: after the cause had been pleaded on both sides, the praetor used the Absolution word dixerunt, q.d. they have said what they had to say; then three ballots were distributed to each judge, marked as mentioned under the article A; and as the majority fell of either mark, the accused was absolved or condemned, &c. If he were absolved, the praetor dismissed him with videtur non fecisse, or jure videtur fecisse.

the canon law, is a juridical act, whereby the priest declares the sins of such as are penitent remitted.—The Romanists hold absolution a part of the sacrament of penance; the council of Trent, sess. xiv. cap. iii. and that of Florence, in the decree ad Armenios, declare the form or essence of the sacrament to lie in the words of absolution, I absolve thee of thy sins. The formula of absolution, in the Romish church, is absolute; in the Greek church, it is deprecatory; and in the churches of the reformed, declarative.

Absolution is chiefly used among Protestants for a sentence whereby a person who stands excommunicated is released or freed from that punishment.