pardon

Meanings

Noun

• Forgiveness for an offence.
• An order that releases a convicted criminal without further punishment, prevents future punishment, or (in some jurisdictions) removes an offence from a person's criminal record, as if it had never been committed.

Verb

• To forgive (a person).
• To refrain from exacting as a penalty.
• To grant an official pardon for a crime.

Origin

• From Middle English pardonen, from Old French pardoner (modern French pardonner), from Vulgar Latin *perdonare, from per- + donare, a loan-translation of a Germanic word represented by Frankish *firgeban, from *fir- + *geban. Akin to Old High German fargeban, firgeban, Old English forġiefan. More at forgive.