ˈinəsən(t)s noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin innocentia, from innocent-, innocens innocent + -ia -y
1.
a.
(1) : freedom from guilt or sin especially through being unacquainted with evil : purity of heart : blamelessness
postulates a state of primitive innocence
(2) : chastity
supposed to have not yet lost her innocence — T.B.Macaulay
(3) : the state of being not chargeable for or guilty of a particular crime or offense
b.
(1) : freedom from guile or cunning : artlessness , simplicity
the innocence of childhood
(2) : lack of understanding or penetration : silliness , naïveté
the innocence … to propose remaking the world and human nature — L.O.Coxe
(3) : lack of knowledge : ignorance
written in entire innocence of the Italian language — E.R.Bentley
full of a chuckling mirth at the innocence of our detractors — Warwick Braithwaite
innocence of the craft of writing — J.W.Aldridge
2. : one that is innocent ; especially : an innocent person
3.
a. : bluet 1c(1)
b. : either of two plants:
(1) : a small herb ( Collinsia verna ) of the central United States
(2) : a Californian herb ( C. bicolor )