ab-solvo — Lewis & Short
ab-solvo, vi, ūtum, 3, v. a.,
I to loosen from, to make loose, set free, detach, untie (usu. trop., the fig. being derived from fetters, qs. a vinculis solvere, like vinculis exsolvere, Plaut. Truc. 3, 4, 10).
I Lit. (so very rare):
canem ante tempus,Amm. 29, 3:
asinum,App. M. 6, p. 184; cf.:
cum nodo cervicis absolutum,id. ib. 9, p. 231:
valvas stabuli,i. e. to open, id. ib. 1, p. 108 fin.:
absoluta lingua (ranarum) a gutture,loosed, Plin. 11, 37, 65, § 172.
II Trop.
A To release from a long story, to let one off quickly: Paucis absolvit, ne moraret diutius, Pac. ap. Diom. p. 395 P. (Trag. Rel. p. 98 Rib.); so,
te absolvam brevi,Plaut. Ep. 3, 4, 30.
B To dismiss by paying, to pay off:
absolve hunc vomitum ... quattuor quadraginta illi debentur minae,Plaut. Most. 3, 1, 120; so Ter. Ad. 2, 4, 13 and 18.—Hence, in gen., to dismiss, to release:
jam hosce absolutos censeas,Plaut. Aul. 3, 5, 43;
and ironic.,id. Capt. 3, 5, 73.
C To free from (Ciceronian): ut nec Roscium stipulatione alliget, neque a Fannio judicio se absolvat, extricate or free himself from a lawsuit, Cic. Rosc. Com. 12:
longo bello,Tac. A. 4, 23: caede hostis se absolvere, to absolve or clear one's self by murdering an enemy, id. G. 31.—With gen.:
tutelae,Dig. 4, 8, 3; hence,
D In judicial lang., t. t., to absolve from a charge, to acquit, declare innocent; constr. absol., with abl., gen., or de (Zumpt, § 446;
Rudd. 2, 164 sq.): bis absolutus,Cic. Pis. 39:
regni suspicione,Liv. 2, 8: judex absolvit injuriarum eum, Auct. ad Her. 2, 13; so Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 29 al.:
de praevaricatione absolutus,id. Q. Fr. 2, 16.—In Verr. 2, 2, 8, § 22: hic (Dionem) Veneri absolvit, sibi condemnat, are dativi commodi: from the obligation to Venus he absolves him, but condemns him to discharge that to himself (Verres).—With an abstract noun: fidem absolvit, he acquitted them of their fidelity (to Otho), pardoned it, Tac. H. 2, 60.
E In technical lang., to bring a work to a close, to complete, finish (without denoting intrinsic excellence, like perficere; the fig. is prob. derived from detaching a finished web from the loom; cf.:
rem dissolutam divulsamque,Cic. de Or. 1, 42, 188).—So of the sacrificial cake:
liba absoluta (as taken from the pan),ready, Varr. R. R. 2, 8;
but esp. freq. in Cic.: ut pictor nemo esset inventus, qui Coae Veneris eam partem, quam Apelles inchoatam reliquisset, absolveret,Cic. Off. 3, 2 (cf. Suet. Claud. 3); id. Leg. 1, 3, 9; id. Att. 12, 45; cf. id. Fin. 2, 32, 105; id. Fam. 1, 9, 4; id. Att. 13, 19 al.—So in Sallust repeatedly, both with acc. and de, of an historical statement, to bring to a conclusion, to relate:
cetera quam paucissumis absolvam, J. 17, 2: multa paucis,Cic. Fragm. Hist. 1, n. 2:
de Catilinae conjuratione paucis absolvam,id. Cat. 4, 3; cf.:
nunc locorum situm, quantum ratio sinit, absolvam,Amm. 23, 6.— Hence, absŏlūtus, a, um, P. a., brought to a conclusion, finished, ended, complete (cf. absolvo, E.).
A In gen.:
nec appellatur vita beata nisi confecta atque absoluta,when not completed and concluded, Cic. Fin. 2, 27, 87; cf.:
perfecte absolutus,id. ib. 4, 7, 18; and:
absolutus et perfectus per se,id. Part. Or. 26, 94 al.—Comp., Quint. 1, 1, 37.—Sup., Auct. ad Her. 2, 18, 28; Plin. 35, 10, 36, § 74; Tac. Or. 5 al.—
B Esp.
1 In rhet. lang., unrestricted, unconditional, absolute:
hoc mihi videor videre, esse quasdam cum adjunctione necessitudines, quasdam simplices et absolutas,Cic. Inv. 2, 57, 170.—
2 In gram.
a Nomen absolutum, which gives a complete sense without any thing annexed, e. g.:
deus,Prisc. p. 581 P.—
b Verbum absolutum, in Prisc. p. 795 P., that has no case with it; in Diom. p. 333 P., opp. inchoativum.—
c Adjectivum absolutum, which stands in the positive, Quint. 9, 3, 19.—Adv.: absŏlūtē, fully, perfectly, completely (syn. perfecte), distinctly, unrestrictedly, absolutely, Cic. Tusc. 4, 17, 38; 5, 18, 53; id. Fin. 3, 7, 26; id. Top. 8, 34 al.—Comp., Macr. Somn. Scip. 2, 15.