vindicate
verb/ˈvɪndɪˌkeɪ̯t/ · [ˈvɪndɪˌkʰeɪ̯t]
Etymology Borrowed from Latin vindicātus, perfect passive participle of vindicō (“lay legal claim to something; set free; protect, avenge, punish”), from vim, accusative singular of vīs (“force, power”), + dīcō (“say; declare, state”). See avenge.
8 senses
- 1To clear of an accusation, suspicion or criticism.
- 2To justify by providing evidence.
- 3To maintain or defend (a cause) against opposition.
- 4To be proven reasonable, correct, or justified.
- 5To provide justification for.
- 6To lay claim to; to assert a right to; to claim.
- 7To liberate; to set free; to deliver.
- 8To avenge; to punish.
1
To clear of an accusation, suspicion or criticism.
- to vindicate someone's honor
- As a man of vision, he understood this. Without Cerberus, humanity was doomed to an existence of groveling subservience at the feet of alien masters. Still, there were those who would call what he did criminal. Unethical. Amoral. History would vindicate him, but until it did he and his followers were forced to exist in hiding, working toward their goals in secret.2008, Drew Karpyshyn, Mass Effect: Ascension, Del Rey Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 3:
2
To justify by providing evidence.
- to vindicate a right, claim or title
- The Ukrainians immediately demanded a goal and their claims were vindicated as replays showed the ball crossed the line before Terry's intervention.2012 June 19, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport:
2 more examples
- Also see: United National Congress, Trinidad and Tobago
- Kamla Persad Bissessar: " We have been vindicated, but it is a victory for the people"
3
To maintain or defend (a cause) against opposition.
- to vindicate the rights of labor movement in developing countries
- When Trump's election pulled back the curtain on the rise of the far-right in America, I'd naively assumed the Jewish left would be vindicated.2019, Eli Valley, “A Springtime of Erasure”, in Jewish Currents, number Fall 2019, page 14:
4
To be proven reasonable, correct, or justified.
5
To provide justification for.
- The violent history of the suspect vindicated the use of force by the police.
6
To lay claim to; to assert a right to; to claim.
7
Obsolete To liberate; to set free; to deliver.
8
Obsolete To avenge; to punish.
- a war to vindicate infidelity
- Derived terms
- vindication, vindicator, vindictive