pardon

Etymology

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 (“to forgive, give up completely”), from fir- + geban. Akin to Old High German fargeban, firgeban (“to forgive”), Old English forġiefan (“to forgive”). More at forgive.

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑɹ.dən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑːdən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑɹ.dn̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(r)dən

Noun

pardon (plural pardons)

1. Forgiveness for an offence.
   • 1748: Samuel Richardson, Clarissa

     a step, that could not be taken with the least hope of ever obtaining pardon from or reconciliation with any of my friends;

2. (law) 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.
   • 1974: President Gerald Ford, Proclamation 4311

     I... have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States ...

Verb

pardon (third-person singular simple present pardons, present participle pardoning, simple past and past participle pardoned)

1. (transitive) To forgive.
   • 1599: William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

     O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!

   • 1815: Jane Austen, Emma

     I hope you will not find he has outstepped the truth more than may be pardoned, in consideration of the motive.

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:

     In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.

2. (transitive) To refrain from exacting as a penalty.
   • Shakespeare

     I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.

3. (transitive, law) To grant an official pardon for a crime; unguilt.
   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.

Interjection

Pardon?

1. Often used when someone does not understand what another person says.

   Pardon?, What did you say?, Can you say that again?

Anagrams

• Padron

Alternative forms

• pardón

Interjection

pardon

1. sorry, I'm sorry, I beg your pardon, I apologize

Further reading

• pardon in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• pardon in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Etymology

Deverbal of pardonner.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paʁ.dɔ̃/

• audio (France)

  (file)

• audio (Quebec)

  (file)

Interjection

pardon

1. excuse me
2. sorry

Noun

pardon m (plural pardons)

1. pardon, forgiveness

Further reading

• “pardon” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• pondra

Etymology

From French pardon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /parˈdon/

Interjection

pardon

1. pardon!, pardon me!, excuse me!, I beg your pardon!, sorry!

Etymology

From French pardon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /parˈdon/

Interjection

pardon

1. pardon!, pardon me!, excuse me!, I beg your pardon!, sorry!

Noun

pardon n (uncountable)

1. (dated) pardon, pardoning, forgiveness, excuse

Noun

pardon c

1. mercy

Etymology

Borrowed from French pardon.

Interjection

pardon

1. pardon!, pardon me!, excuse me!, I beg your pardon!, sorry!