Vindicate

WORD OF THE DAY

vindicate / verb / VIN-duh-kayt

Definition
1a: to free from allegation or blame
1b: confirm, substantiate
1c: to provide justification or defense for
1d: justify
1e: to protect from attack or encroachment
1f: defend
2: avenge
3: to maintain a right to
4 (obsolete): to set free or deliver

Examples
“Describing Webb Pierce’s ‘There Stands the Glass’ (1953), [Bob] Dylan extrapolates the sad song into something remorselessly bleak: The song’s narrator ‘must justify and vindicate his entire being, he’s been betrayed by politicians back home, forsaken and double crossed.’”
— Elizabeth Nelson, The Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2022

Several people certainly have, and Aiden has countless examples that vindicate the project’s value in his eyes.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 29 Dec. 2011

Did You Know?
It’s hard not to marvel at the rich history of vindicate.
Vindicate, which has been used in English since at least the mid-16th century, comes from a form of the Latin verb vindicare, meaning “to set free, avenge, or lay claim to.”
Vindicare, in turn, comes from vindex, a noun meaning “claimant” or “avenger.”
Truly, vindex has proven to be an incredible hulk of a word progenitor over the centuries.
Other descendants of this “avenger” assembled in English include avenge itself, revenge, vengeance, vendetta, and vindictive.