innocence

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English [Term?], from Old French inocence, from Latin innocentia. Displaced native Old English unsċyld.

noun

1. Absence of responsibility for a crime, tort, etc.
   Her attorney managed to convince the jury of her innocence.
2. Lack of understanding about sensitive subjects such as sexuality and crime.
   Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 9, in The China Governess
   In his innocence, he offered the stranger to bring the package to Paris, never suspecting it contained drugs.
3. Lack of ability or intention to harm or damage.
   Tests have demonstrated the innocence of this substance.
   His unruly hair was slicked down with water, and as Jessamy introduced him to Miss Brindle his face assumed a cherubic innocence which would immediately have aroused the suspicions of anyone who knew him. 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, page 96
4. (obsolete) Imbecility; mental deficiency.