adj. & n.
adj. 1 free from moral wrong; sinless. 2 (usu. foll. by of) not guilty (of a crime etc.). 3 a simple; guileless; naïve. b pretending to be guileless. 4 harmless. 5 (foll. by of) colloq. without, lacking (appeared, innocent of shoes).
n. 1 an innocent person, esp. a young child. 2 (in pl.) the young children killed by Herod after the birth of Jesus (Matt. 2:16). Innocents' (or Holy Innocents') Day the day, 28 Dec., commemorating the massacre of the innocents. innocence n. innocency n. innocently adv.
[ ME f. OF innocent or L innocens innocent- (as IN-(1), nocere hurt) ]