assoil means to absolve or release (someone) from blame or sin; to forgive, to pardon. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 78 out of 100.
assoil is pronounced /əˈsɔɪl/.
Why “assoil” is a great word
To release from blame, sin, or a criminal charge; its lineage flows from Middle English assoilen, from Anglo-Norman as(s)oiler, from Old French as(s)oldre, as(s)oudre, from Latin absolvō, from ab- ("away from") + solvō ("to loosen, set free"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewH- ("to cut off, to free"). Unlike "absolve," which rings with formal, authoritative decree, or "acquit," a verdict confined to the courtroom, assoil is the older, quieter act of unburdening. It is the forgotten priest whispering in the confessional, the silent breaking of a rusted manacle, the palpable warmth of a shame lifted from the shoulders—a word for the archaic grace of a debt cancelled not by authority, but by time.
Etymology
From Middle English assoilen (“to absolve or release from blame or sin”), from Anglo-Norman as(s)oiler, as(s)oilier, and Old French as(s)oille [and other forms], the present subjunctive, and as(s)oil, the present indicative, of as(s)oldre, as(s)oudre (“to absolve from blame”) (modern French absoudre), from Latin absoluere, the present active infinitive of absoluō, a variant of absolvō (“to set free from”), from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away from’) + solvō (“to loosen, set free”) (from sē- (“prefix meaning ‘apart; aside; away’”) + luō (“to let go, set free”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewH- (“to cut off, to free”). Doublet of absolve and assoilzie.
verb
- To absolve or release (someone) from blame or sin; to forgive, to pardon.“But ſecretly aſſoyling of his ſin, / No other med'cine vvill he to him lay, / Saying that Heauen his ſiluer him ſhould vvin, / And to giue Friers, vvas better then to pray, / So he vvere ſhrieu'd, vvhat need he care a pin?”
- To atone or expiate for (something).“But Glauce, ſeeing all that chaunced there, / VVell vveeting hovv their errour to aſſoyle, / Full glad of ſo good end, to them drevv nere, / And her ſalevved vvith ſeemly belaccoyle, / Ioyous to ſee her ſafe after long toyle.”
- Followed by from or of: to acquit (someone) from a criminal charge; to find (someone) not guilty; to clear.“For if the mater appere vpon his ſyde therby, either clere or doubtefull, than may the iudges acquite and aſſoyle the defendaũt [defendaunt]. And better were it the faute to be quytte, than the fautles to be punyſhed.”
- Followed by from or of: to release or set free (someone) from a liability, an obligation, etc.; to discharge.“But firſt thou muſt a ſeaſon faſt and pray, / Till from her bands the ſpright aſſoiled is, / And haue her ſtrength recur'd from fraile infirmitis.”
- To clear up or resolve (a difficulty, doubt, problem, etc.); to absolve, to solve.“I ſaie, aſſoyleth this doubt and queſtion, by the only argument and aſſuraunce of the knovven Catholik church of Chriſt.”
- To refute (an argument, an objection, etc.).