Innocent has 11 different meanings across 3 categories:
Noun · Adjective · Proper Noun
a person who lacks knowledge of evil
"The young child played in the park, completely innocent and unaware that his actions had caused trouble."
One who is innocent, especially a young child.
"The police officer treated the crying toddler as an innocent victim of circumstance rather than a suspect in the crime."
In plain English: An innocent is someone who has done nothing wrong and deserves to be treated fairly without blame.
"The innocent on trial claimed he did not know his friend was planning to rob the bank."
free from evil or guilt
"an innocent child"
"the principle that one is innocent until proved guilty"
not knowledgeable about something specified
"American tourists wholly innocent of French"
"a person unacquainted with our customs"
Free from guilt, sin, or immorality.
"The innocent child was unaware that his actions had caused any harm to others."
In plain English: Innocent means not guilty of doing something wrong and having no bad intentions.
"The little child was innocent of any wrongdoing, so everyone felt sorry for him."
Usage: Use this adjective to describe someone free from guilt regarding a specific crime or wrongdoing rather than their general moral character. Distinguish it from "harmless" by noting that an innocent person may still cause accidental injury without intent.
A surname.
"The Innocents were invited to the family reunion, but their ancestors had a different spelling of the name."
The word innocent entered Middle English from the Old French for "harmless," which itself came from Latin meaning not harmful or offensive. It eventually replaced an older, native English term that had a similar sense of being free from guilt.