FORGIVENESS • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Forgiveness

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/fərgˈɪvnəs/ /fɔrgˈɪvnəs/ Listen

noun

Forgiveness n.

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." "In whom we have... the forgiveness of sin."

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."

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.

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Etymology of 'Forgiveness'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Forgiveness" Quotes from Famous Books

... thoughtlessly, although they were not properly wicked at heart. They repented their hasty work, even whilst they were falling deeper and deeper into gloom. They put up a prayer of repentance to their Lord, and implored his forgiveness; and because God saw that they were not rotten at the core, he hearkened to their petition, and rescued them out of the claws of Satan. But since they were not worthy to be received into heaven again, the Lord ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 344, June, 1844 • Various

... saw again a native brave Decking his naked body with the coat Crowned with the hat of some sea-faring man,— Aping the civilization of his stride Till his new prowess fell to comrade's jeers. So with a tiger heart it were to wear A grave forgiveness of this wanton wrong. The primal lust had burst the slender bar, Weak white man's morals. Now ...

— The Rose of Dawn - A Tale of the South Sea • Helen Hay

... no louder, her expression was unchanged; in her glorious eyes gleamed no trace of anything other than benign forgiveness; she remained motionless as before, with her rounded arm and shapely hand extended in a manner that revealed their ...

— The Pirate Woman • Aylward Edward Dingle

... woman, whose eyes glared upon him with an expression rather demoniac than human, while her paralytic hand, shaking with ineffectual effort, waved him off. A broken word escaped her lips here and there, and—"sin"—"forgiveness"—was all that reached the ears of her grandchild, when her head sank back upon the pillow, and she expired without ...

— Guy Rivers: A Tale of Georgia • William Gilmore Simms

... forgive me!" he cried, brokenly. "I am a brute—I forgot myself—I must be mad, I think; for Heaven's sake tell me that I have not offended you past forgiveness, Vera!" ...

— Vera Nevill - Poor Wisdom's Chance • Mrs. H. Lovett Cameron

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