You searched for: “acquit”
acquit (verb), acquits; acquitted; acquitting
1. To find or to declare someone innocent or not guilty: The jury acquitted Jerome of the charges of driving while intoxicated since he was simply driving too slowly on the express way and had never drunk anything alcoholic.
2. Etymology: ultimately related to quiet from the Latin noun quies; from which the word quiet resulted and it is considered to be the basis of the verb quietare, then quitare, "put to rest" which developed into "settle"; as in "to settle a debt".

With the addition of the prefix ad-, this term evolved into Old French as a(c)quiter, and then into English with the meaning "settling or discharging debts".

The current meaning of "declare not guilty" didn't appear until the 14th century, and the most recent meaning, "conduct oneself in a particular way" resulted from the idea of discharging one's duties.

—Compiled from information located in
Dictionary of Word Origins by John Ayto;
Arcade Publishing; New York; 1990; page 6.
To clear a person of a criminal charge by declaring him not guilty.
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This entry is located in the following unit: quies-, -quiet-, -quit- (page 1)
Word Entries at Get Words: “acquit”
acquit, acquits; acquitted; acquitting
To legally decide or to declare that someone is not guilty of a crime. (1)
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