in- ‘not’ + nocere ‘to hurt’

source: [【アニメ】ばらかもんのGIF画像｜無料GIF画像検索 GIFMAGAZINE 18893]

1. not guilty of a crime or offense:

比較なし 〈人が〉 【罪に関して】無罪の, 潔白な «of» (↔ guilty)

e.g. the arbitrary execution of an innocent man

e.g. he was innocent of any fraud.

predicative (innocent of) without experience or knowledge of:

«…に» 無知の «of, about» .

e.g. a man innocent of war's cruelties.

predicative (innocent of) without; lacking:

〖be ～〗 «…を» 欠いている «of»

e.g. a street quite innocent of bookstores.

2. attributive not responsible for or directly involved in an event yet suffering its consequences:

〖名詞の前で〗罪のない, 無関係な, 巻き添えの〈人々など〉

e.g. an innocent bystander.

3. free from moral wrong; not corrupted:

〈言動が〉悪意, 悪気のない (!実際には人の気持ちを害してしまったことを暗示)

e.g. an innocent child.

simple; naive:

〈人が〉(経験が少なく)だまされやすい, お人よしの; 無邪気な, 純真な(naive)

e.g. she is a poor, innocent young creature.

4. not intended to cause harm or offense; harmless:

〈物･事が〉無害な

e.g. an innocent mistake.

1. a pure, guileless, or naive person:

無邪気な子供, 人; お人よし; 無知な人

e.g. she was an innocent compared with this man.

2. a person involved by chance in a situation, especially a victim of crime or war:

e.g. they are prepared to kill or maim innocents in pursuit of a cause.

(the Innocents) the young children killed by Herod after the birth of Jesus (Matt. 2:16).

Innocent properly means ‘harmless,’ but it has long been extended in general language to mean ‘not guilty.’ The jury (or judge) in a criminal trial does not, strictly speaking, find a defendant ‘innocent.’ Rather, a defendant may be guilty or not guilty of the charges brought. In common use, however, owing perhaps to the concept of the presumption of innocence, which instructs a jury to consider a defendant free of wrongdoing until proven guilty on the basis of evidence, ‘not guilty’ and ‘innocent’ have come to be thought of as synonymous. See also usage at plead.

Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin innocent- ‘not harming’, from in- ‘not’ + nocere ‘to hurt’.