forgiveness
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)
- compassionate feelings that support a willingness to forgiveType of mercifulness, mercy
- the act of excusing a mistake or offenseSynonyms: pardonType of kindness, benignityKinds exculpation, condonation
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Noun the action of forgiving
- Spanish
- perdón
- French
- pardon
- German
- Verzeihung
- Italian
- perdono
- Portuguese
- perdão
- Russian
- проще́ние proščénije
- Arabic
- مَغْفِرَة maḡfira
- Chinese
- 宽恕 kuānshù
- Japanese
- 許し yurushi
- Dutch
- vergiffenis
18 more languages
- Polish
- przebaczenie
- Swedish
- förlåtelse
- Greek
- συγγνώμη syngnómi
- Korean
- 용서 yongseo
- Indonesian
- pengampunan
- Hungarian
- megbocsátás
- Portuguese (PT)
- perdão
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 寬恕 kuānshù
- Albanian
- falje
- Czech
- odpuštění
- Danish
- tilgivelse
- Esperanto
- pardono
- Finnish
- anteeksianto
- Hebrew
- סְלִיחָה slikhá
- Norwegian
- tilgivelse
- Romanian
- iertare
- Serbo-Croatian
- oproštaj
- Swahili
- ghofira
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: AS. forgifnes.
1. The act of forgiving; the state of being forgiven; as, the forgiveness of sin or of injuries.
To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses.— Dan. ix. 9.
In whom we have... the forgiveness of sin.— Eph. i. 7.
2. Disposition to pardon; willingness to forgive.
If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.— Ps. cxxx. 3, 4.
Synonyms: Pardon, remission. — Forgiveness, Pardon. Forgiveness is Anglo-Saxon, and pardon Norman French, both implying a giving back. The word pardon, being early used in our Bible, has, in religious matters, the same sense as forgiveness; but in the language of common life there is a difference between them, such as we often find between corresponding Anglo-Saxon and Norman words. Forgive points to inward feeling, and suppose alienated affection; when we ask forgiveness, we primarily seek the removal of anger. Pardon looks more to outward things or consequences, and is often applied to trifling matters, as when we beg pardon for interrupting a man, or for jostling him in a crowd. The civil magistrate also grants a pardon, and not forgiveness. The two words are, therefore, very clearly distinguished from each other in most cases which relate to the common concerns of life.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54