Vindication

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. The act of vindicating, or the state of being vindicated; defense; justification against denial or censure; as, the vindication of opinions; his vindication is complete. Occasion for the vindication of this passage in my book. Locke.

2. The claiming a thing as one's own; the asserting of a right or title in, or to, a thing. Burrill.