forgive

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against.
  2. To pardon (something); to waive any negative feeling over or retribution for.
  3. To waive or remit (a debt), to absolve from payment or compensation of.
  4. To accord forgiveness.
  5. To look past; to look beyond.
  6. To redeem; to offset the bad effects of something.

Pronunciation

fər-gĭv' fôr-gĭv' /fə(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/ /fɔː(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/ /fɚˈɡɪv/ en-us-forgive.ogg

Word forms

forgive forgives forgiving forgave forgiven

Etymology

Alteration (due to give) of Middle English foryiven, forȝiven, from Old English forġiefan (“to forgive, to give”), from Proto-West Germanic *frageban, from Proto-Germanic *fragebaną (“to give away; give up; release; forgive”), equivalent to for- + give (etymologically for- + yive). Cognate with Scots forgeve, forgif, forgie (“to forgive”), West Frisian ferjaan (“to forgive”), Dutch vergeven (“to forgive”), German vergeben (“to forgive”), Icelandic fyrirgefa (“to forgive”), Yiddish פֿאַרגעבן (fargebn, “to forgive”)

Translations

Abkhaz: анажьра Albanian: fal Amharic: ይቅር ማለት Arabic: سَامَحَ Arabic: غَفَرَ Armenian: ներել Aromanian: ljert Asturian: perdonar Azerbaijani: bağışlamaq Basque: barkatu Belarusian: прабача́ць Belarusian: праба́чыць Belarusian: дарава́ць Bengali: ক্ষমা করা Bulgarian: проща́вам Bulgarian: простя́ Bulgarian: опроща́вам Bulgarian: опростя́ Burmese: ခွင့်လွှတ် Burmese: အခွင့်လွှတ် Catalan: perdonar Chinese Cantonese: 原諒 /原谅 Chinese Cantonese: 寬恕 /宽恕 Chinese Cantonese: 饒恕 /饶恕 Chinese Mandarin: 原諒 /原谅 Chinese Mandarin: 寬恕 /宽恕 Chinese Mandarin: 饒恕 /饶恕 Mwali Comorian: uswamihi Ngazidja Comorian: usamihi Czech: odpouštět Czech: odpustit Danish: tilgive Danish: forlade Dutch: vergeven Esperanto: pardoni Estonian: andestama Estonian: andeks andma Finnish: antaa anteeksi French: pardonner West-Frisian: ferjou Galician: perdoar Georgian: პატიება Georgian: მიტევება German: verzeihen Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 Greek: συγχωρώ Ancient Greek: ἀφίημι Ancient Greek: χαρίζομαι Hebrew: סָלַח Hindi: माफ़ करना Hindi: क्षमा करना Hindi: मुआफ़ करना Hungarian: megbocsát Icelandic: fyrirgefa Ido: pardonar Indonesian: memaafkan Indonesian: mengampuni Ingrian: antaa anteeks Irish: maith do
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