Word.ws English Dictionary

assoil

Syllables: as·soil/əˈsɔɪl/

assoil verb: to absolve or release (someone) from blame or sin; to forgive, to pardon.

Verb (1)

assoil (third-person singular simple present assoils, present participle assoiling, simple past and past participle assoiled)

  1. (archaic, transitive) 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?1607, Michael Drayton, “The Legend of Great Cromwell”, in Poems: […], London: […] Willi[am] Stansby for Iohn Smethwicke, published 1630, →OCLC, page 461
    • Pray deuoutly for the ſoule whom God aſſoile of one of the moſt worſhipfull Knights in his daies of manhood and cunning, Richard Beauchampe late Earle of Warwicke, […] [Inscription on the deceased's tomb.]1610, William Camden, “Warwick-shire”, in Philémon Holland, transl., Britain, or A Chorographicall Description of the Most Flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland, […], London: […]...
    Synonyms:
    assoilze
  2. (archaic, transitive) 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.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 25, page 87
    • And theſe reaſons verily induce me to beleeve, that in times paſt they choſe the Bay tree for their triumphs, before any other: rather than as Maſſurius vvould have it, becauſe the Lavvrell ſerved for a ſolemne perfume, to expiate and aſſoile the carnage and execution done upon the enemies.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XV.] Of the Lawrell or Bay Tree, Thirteene Kinds thereof.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called...
  3. (archaic, transitive) 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.1528, Thomas More, “A Dialogue Concernynge Heresyes & Matters of Religion […]. Chapter IIII.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London...
    • Whom Ceſar doth condemne, god ſumtime doeth aſſoyle: and whom the prince doth aſſoyle, he leaueth in the cumpany of mẽ [men], to make other like himſelf: […]1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Gospell of Saincte Matthew. The .xviii. Chapter.”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall]...
  4. (archaic, obsolete, transitive) 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.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 52, page 150
    • His vvearie ghoſt aſſoyld from fleſhly band, / Did not as others vvont, directly fly / Vnto her reſt in Plutoes grieſly land, / Ne into ayre did vaniſh preſently, / Ne chaunged vvas into a ſtarre in sky: […]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 13, page 40
  5. (obsolete, transitive) 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.1565, Thomas Stapleton, chapter 14, in A Fortresse of the Faith […], Antwerp: […] Ihon Laet, […], →OCLC, folio 65, verso
    • Here M. [Thomas] Harding once againe moueth a very néedeleſſe queſtion. VVe demaunde, ſaithe he, vvhether vvee receiue the ſame Body of Chriſte by Faithe onely, vvithout our Body, or vvith the office of our Body. Any childe might ſoone be hable to aſſoile this reddle.1567 November 6 (Gregorian calendar), Iohn Iewel [i.e. John Jewel], “The Apologie, Cap. 13, Diuision. 1.”, in A Defence of the Apologie of the Churche of Englande, Conteininge an Answeare to a...
    Synonyms:
    soil, soyle
  6. (obsolete, transitive) To refute (an argument, an objection, etc.).
  7. (obsolete, rare, transitive) To discharge (a liability, an obligation, etc.).
    • And ye poore Pilgrimes, that vvith reſtleſſe toyle / VVearie your ſelues in vvandring deſert vvayes, / Till that you come, vvhere ye your vovves aſſoyle, / VVhen paſsing by ye read theſe vvofull layes / On my graue vvritten, […]1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], Daphnaïda. An Elegy upon the Death of the Noble and Vertuous Douglas Howard,Daughter and Heire of Henry Lord Howard, Viscount Byndon, and Wife of Arthure Gorges Esquier....
  8. (obsolete, rare, transitive) To get rid of, put off, or remove (something).
    • She ſoundly ſlept, & carefull thoughts did quite aſſoile.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 58, page 407
  9. (obsolete, transitive) To absolve or release (someone) from excommunication or some other religious offence.
    • [H]is Barons […] flatly oppoſe themſelues both to his commaund and their Countries good, denying him (vntill he vvere aſſoyled of his excommunication,) their attendance in ſo behouefull a ſeruice.1611, Iohn Speed [i.e., John Speed], “Iohn, Duke of Normandie, Guyen, and Aquitaine, &c. […]”, in The History of Great Britaine under the Conquests of yͤ Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans. […]...

Verb (2)

assoil (third-person singular simple present assoils, present participle assoiling, simple past and past participle assoiled)

  1. (archaic, obsolete, transitive) To make (something) dirty or soiled; to soil; to stain; to sully.
    • Is it that the world has assoiled my soul? Yet I have not tasted of worldly joys; all that I have known of it has been suffering and tears.1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter V, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book VI, page 192
    Synonyms:
    befoul, foul, slur, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen, befile, befilth

Examples of assoil in a sentence

  • [M]any persons think themselves fairly assoiled, because they are no adulterers, no rebels, no drunkards, not of scandalous lives; […]1653, “Twenty-five Sermons Preached at Golden Grove; Being for the Winter Half-year, […]: Sermon XII. Of Lukewarmness and Zeal; or...
  • Let each act / Assoil a fault or help a merit grow: / Like threads of silver seen through crystal beads / Let love through good deeds show.1879, Edwin Arnold, “Book the Eighth”, in The Light of Asia: Or The Great Renunciation (Mahâbhinishkramana). […], London: Trübner & Co....
  • Say, to toil— / Nor seek to leave thy tending of the vines, / For all the heat o' the day, till it declines, / And Death's mild curfew shall from work assoil.1844, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Work”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 133:

Synonyms of assoil

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of assoil

Forms of assoil

third-person singular presentassoils
present participleassoiling
past participleassoiled
pastassoiled
alternative formassoyle

Origin of assoil

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.

Possibly from a- (intensifying prefix) or ad- (prefix meaning ‘to, toward’, or indicating an addition or tendency) + soil (“to make dirty”), perhaps influenced by assoil (etymology 1).

Words formed from assoil

Words that rhyme with assoil

18 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about assoil

What does assoil mean?
Assoil means to absolve or release (someone) from blame or sin; to forgive, to pardon.
How do you use assoil in a sentence?
[M]any persons think themselves fairly assoiled, because they are no adulterers, no rebels, no drunkards, not of scandalous lives; […]
What part of speech is assoil?
Assoil is a verb.
How do you pronounce assoil?
Assoil is pronounced /əˈsɔɪl/ (UK).
What is the past tense of assoil?
The past tense of assoil is assoiled.

Words near assoil in the dictionary

  1. associette
  2. associettes
  3. associogram
  4. associograms
  5. associonistic
  6. assoil
  7. assoiled
  8. assoiledst
  9. assoileth
  10. assoiling
  11. assoilment

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: assoil (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-assoil.wav.

Cite this entry: “assoil.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/assoil. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.