excuse

v. forgive; free, release; justify

n. reason, pretext; apology

In jurisprudence, an excuse or justification is a form of immunity that must be distinguished from an exculpation. In this context, "to excuse" means to grant or obtain an exemption for a group of persons sharing a common characteristic from a potential liability. "To justify" as in justifiable homicide means to "vindicate" or show the justice in the particular conduct. Thus, society approves of the purpose or motives underpinning some actions or the consequences flowing from them (see Robinson), and distinguishes those where the behavior cannot be approved but some excuse may be found in the characteristics of the defendant, e.g. that the accused was a serving police officer or suffering from a mental illness. Thus, a justification describes the quality of the act, whereas an excuse relates to the status or capacity (or lack of it) in the accused. "To exculpate" means to free a particular individual from culpability after he or she has caused loss or damage and to represent this in a judgment that is either an acquittal or mitigates sentencing in the criminal law, or reduces or extinguishes the liability to pay compensation to the victim in the civil law.
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Noun
1. a defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.; "he kept finding excuses to stay"; "every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job"; "his transparent self-justification was unacceptable"
(synonym) alibi, exculpation, self-justification
(hypernym) defense, defence, vindication
(hyponym) extenuation, mitigation
(derivation) condone
2. a note explaining an absence; "he had to get his mother to write an excuse for him"
(hypernym) note, short letter, line, billet
(derivation) beg off
3. a poor example; "it was an apology for a meal"; "a poor excuse for an automobile"
(synonym) apology
(hypernym) example, illustration, instance, representative
Verb
1. accept an excuse for; "Please excuse my dirty hands"
(synonym) pardon
(hypernym) forgive
(derivation) alibi, exculpation, self-justification
2. grant exemption or release to; "Please excuse me from this class"
(synonym) relieve, let off, exempt
(hypernym) absolve, justify, free
(hyponym) frank
3. serve as a reason or cause or justification of; "Your need to sleep late does not excuse your late arrival at work"; "Her recent divorce amy explain her reluctance to date again"
(synonym) explain
(hypernym) justify, vindicate
(hyponym) alibi
(derivation) alibi, exculpation, self-justification
4. defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning; "rationalize the child's seemingly crazy behavior"; "he rationalized his lack of success"
(synonym) apologize, apologise, justify, rationalize, rationalise
(hypernym) defend, support, fend for
(hyponym) color, colour, gloss
(derivation) alibi, exculpation, self-justification
5. ask for permission to be released from an engagement
(synonym) beg off
(hypernym) request, bespeak, call for, quest
6. excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with; "excuse someone's behavior"; "She condoned her husband's occasional infidelities"
(synonym) condone
(hypernym) forgive
(derivation) alibi, exculpation, self-justification

n. excuse, apology, appreciation; pretence, pretext; plea, alibi

v. excuse, forgive, apologize, find excuse

v. excuse; exempt; avoid, prevent; spare