Think of absolve as untying a rope. Something is tied onto a person: blame for an accident, a promise they swore, a wrong they did. Someone who has the standing to do it comes and the knot, and says out loud that the person is free of it. Two things stay constant across every use. The untying is done by somebody else, never by yourself, and it is declared, not merely felt.
absolve 可以想成「替人解開繩子」。一個人身上綁著東西：可能是別人怪他的責任，可能是他發過的誓，也可能是他做錯的事。有資格的人走過來，把結解開，然後當眾說出口。每個用法都有兩個共同點。第一，解繩子的人不是自己，是別人。第二，這件事要說出來、要正式，不是心裡默默想想就算。
From the word’s history
Latin absolvere is ab- 'away from' plus solvere 'to loosen, to free'. Every modern use still keeps that picture of something being loosened off a person.
拉丁文 absolvere＝ab-（離開）＋solvere（鬆開、釋放）。今天的幾個用法裡，都還看得到「從一個人身上鬆開」這個動作。
packet evidence: Wiktionary etymology for 'absolve' (kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:16569587:51709)
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