the act of excusing a mistake or offense
a warrant granting release from punishment for an offense
amnesty, pardon, free pardon(verb)
the formal act of liberating someone
accept an excuse for
"Please excuse my dirty hands"
grant a pardon to
"Ford pardoned Nixon"; "The Thanksgiving turkey was pardoned by the President"
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.
To grant an official pardon for a crime; unguilt.
Origin: pardonen from pardoner from *, from per- + donare, a loan-translation of a word represented by *, from fir- + geban. Akin to fargeban, firgeban, forgiefan. More at forgive.
the act of pardoning; forgiveness, as of an offender, or of an offense; release from penalty; remission of punishment; absolution
an official warrant of remission of penalty
the state of being forgiven
a release, by a sovereign, or officer having jurisdiction, from the penalties of an offense, being distinguished from amenesty, which is a general obliteration and canceling of a particular line of past offenses
to absolve from the consequences of a fault or the punishment of crime; to free from penalty; -- applied to the offender
to remit the penalty of; to suffer to pass without punishment; to forgive; -- applied to offenses
to refrain from exacting as a penalty
to give leave (of departure) to
A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the cancellation of the relevant penalty; it is usually granted by a head of state or by acts of a parliament or a religious authority. Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves. Commutation or remission is the lessening of a penalty without forgiveness for the crime; the beneficiary is still considered guilty of the offense. A reprieve is the temporary postponement of punishment, often with a view to a pardon or other review of the sentence. Today, pardons are granted in many countries when individuals have demonstrated that they have fulfilled their debt to society, or are otherwise considered to be deserving. Pardons are sometimes offered to persons who are wrongfully convicted or claim they have been wrongfully convicted. Some believe accepting such a pardon implicitly constitutes an admission of guilt as a pardon does not set aside the conviction, so in some cases the offer is refused. Cases of wrongful conviction are nowadays more often dealt with by appeal than by pardon however, a pardon is sometimes offered when innocence is undisputed to avoid the costs of a retrial. Clemency plays a very important role when capital punishment is applied.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
pär′don, v.t. to forgive, said either of an offender or of a crime: to pass by without punishment or blame: to set free from punishment: to let off without doing something.—n. forgiveness, either of an offender or of his offence: remission of a penalty or punishment: a warrant declaring a pardon: a papal indulgence.—adj. Par′donable, that may be pardoned: excusable.—n. Par′donableness.—adv. Par′donably.—n. Par′doner, one who pardons: formerly, one licensed to sell papal indulgences.—p.adj. Par′doning, disposed to pardon: forgiving: exercising the right or power to pardon: conferring authority to grant pardon.—Pardon me, excuse me—used in apology and to soften a contradiction. [Fr. pardonner—Low L. perdonāre—L. per, through, away, donāre, to give.]
British National Corpus
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'pardon' in Written Corpus Frequency: #726
Rank popularity for the word 'pardon' in Nouns Frequency: #2090
The numerical value of pardon in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
The numerical value of pardon in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Sample Sentences & Example Usage
Love truth, and pardon error.
Pardon one offense, and you encourage the commission of many.
If there is something to pardon in everything, there is also something to condemn.
The Cubans were really embarrassed, fidel said he would give my husband's dog a pardon.
It's these senior leaders who have the power to pardon, the power to overturn a verdict, the power to make things right.
Images & Illustrations of pardon
Translations for pardon
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- إبراء, عفا, غفر, إعفاء, عفو, صفح, عذرArabic
- indultar, perdó, indult, perdonarCatalan, Valencian
- vergeben, begnadigen, Vergebung, verzeihen, Verzeihung, BegnadigungGerman
- συχώρεση, αμνηστεία, χάρη, συγγνώμηGreek
- perdonar, indulto, indultar, perdónSpanish
- armahtaa, anteeksianto, armahdusFinnish
- gracier, grâce, pardon, pardonnerFrench
- mathScottish Gaelic
- bocsánat, kegyelemHungarian
- 許す, 恩赦, 勘弁, 赦免, 容赦, 許しJapanese
- murunga, muruMāori
- benådning, benåde, tilgivelse, tilgiNorwegian
- absolvição, absolver, indulto, indultar, perdão, perdoarPortuguese
- прощение, прощать, простить, помилование, помиловатьRussian
- förlåta, benådning, benådan, benådaSwedish
- tha thứVietnamese
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