Is it better to be exonerated or vindicated?
When Robert Mueller submitted his report, it brought out SAT words in rarely seen numbers, like wildflowers in California after El Ni帽o. Suddenly, Latinate words for 鈥渘ot guilty鈥� were everywhere. The report was an 鈥渆xoneration,鈥� according to President Donald Trump. Republican allies called it 鈥渁 vindication.鈥� The Spectator doubted 鈥淭rump鈥檚 claims of exculpation鈥�; Mr. Trump鈥檚 lawyer Rudy Giuliani claimed the president had been 鈥渁bsolved.鈥� The Portland Press Herald warned that the report doesn鈥檛 necessarily 鈥渁cquit鈥� Trump. About the only synonym that didn鈥檛 appear was assoil, and that鈥檚 because it pretty much disappeared in the 19th century. But as coverage drags on, perhaps we鈥檒l see some news outlet declare that the president was not 鈥渁ssoiled of blame.鈥�
Exoneration is perhaps the strongest of these words. It indicates a complete clearance from charges or blame and implies that a person should not have been accused in the first place. Exonerate means to remove a burden 鈥� the prefix ex- means 鈥渢o remove or relieve from鈥� and onus is 鈥渂urden鈥� in Latin.聽
Vindication too involves a total clearing of a person鈥檚 name, often with the additional sense that he or she was right all along. Whether or not you agree with them, headlines such as 鈥淧resident Trump is Vindicated. The Witch Hunt Is Over鈥� neatly capture both these senses of the word, implying that the president has been proved innocent and that Mr. Mueller鈥檚 investigation was indeed a 鈥渨itch hunt.鈥� Etymologically, there is something violent about vindication. It comes from the Latin vindicare (鈥渢o set free鈥� but also 鈥渢o avenge鈥�) and is related to revenge, vengeance, and vindictive.聽 聽
In cases where the charges are less serious, a person may be exculpated, from ex- plus culpa (鈥渇ault鈥�). It is more or less the opposite of mea culpa, a Latin phrase we still use today, which means 鈥渋t鈥檚 my fault.鈥� Absolve was first used in religious contexts, where it refers to forgiveness for sins a person has committed. Though it often connotes guilt and consequent pardon today, it does not always; people can be 鈥渁bsolved鈥� from any suspected wrongdoing, whether they did it or not. Likewise, in a legal context an acquittal indicates that a person was not found guilty, but is not a determination that he or she is innocent. Sometimes people are acquitted because of a lack of evidence or a procedural flaw.
Why are these words so formal and Latinate? In England, Latin was the language of the Roman Catholic Church and the law for centuries, so many of our words are derived from it. Such words lend a dignity and gravity, though in the partisan circus around the Mueller report, they can only do so much.
