amnesty

Noun · Verb
US[am-nuh-stee]/ˈæmnəsti/3 syllables
Synonyms: pardonfree pardon

Open English WordNet

Noun (3)

  1. a period during which offenders are exempt from punishmentType of exemption, freedom
  2. a warrant granting release from punishment for an offenseSynonyms: pardonType of warrant
  3. the formal act of liberating someoneSynonyms: pardonfree pardonType of clemency, mercifulness

Verb (1)amnestied, amnestying

  1. grant a pardon to (a group of people)More general pardon

Related words pardon verb, pardon noun

Word of the day · Oct 15About this word
exemplaryadjective

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

Advertisement

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

am′nes·ty (ăm′nĕs-ty̆), noun

Origin: L. amnestia, Gr. ἀμνηστία, a forgetting, fr. ἄμνηστος forgotten, forgetful; ἀ priv. + μνᾶσθαι to remember: cf. F. amnistie, earlier amnestie. See Mean, verb

1. Forgetfulness; cessation of remembrance of wrong; oblivion.

2. An act of the sovereign power granting oblivion, or a general pardon, for a past offense, as to subjects concerned in an insurrection.

Am′nes·ty transitive verb [past tense & past participle Amnestied (…); present participle & verbal noun Amnestying.]

To grant amnesty to.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

The Devil's Dictionary

AMNESTY, n. The state's magnanimity to those offenders whom it would be too expensive to punish.
Advertisement