pardon

See also Pardon

English

Etymology

Middle English pardonen from Old French pardoner 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

Noun

pardon (plural pardons)

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;
(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 ...

Derived terms

I beg your pardon

Translations

forgiveness for an offence

American Sign Language: BentB@BaseHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross BentB@TipHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross
Arabic: إبراء (ar) ('ibraa') m, إعفاء (ar) ('i3faa') m
Catalan: perdó (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 原諒 (cmn), 原谅 (cmn) (yuánliàng)
Esperanto: pardono (eo)
Finnish: anteeksianto (fi)

French: pardon (fr) m
German: Vergebung (de) f, Verzeihung (de) f
Greek: συγγνώμη (el) (sygnómi) f, συχώρεση (el) (sychóresi) f
Japanese: 許し (ja) (ゆるし, yurushi)
Manx: maihnys (gv) m
Norwegian: tilgivelse (no)
Russian: прощение (ru) (proščénije) n
Spanish: perdón (es) m

releasing order

American Sign Language: BentB@BaseHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross BentB@TipHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross
Arabic: عفو (ar) (3afw) m, صفح (ar) (SafH) m
Catalan: perdó (ca) m, indult (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 赦免 (cmn) (shèmiǎn)
Czech: milost (cs) f
Finnish: armahdus (fi)
French: grâce (fr) f

German: Begnadigung (de) f
Greek: αμνηστεία (el) (amnisteía) f, χάρη (el) (chàri) f
Hungarian: kegyelem (hu)
Japanese: 赦免 (ja) (しゃめん, shamen), 恩赦 (ja) (おんしゃ, onsha), 勘弁 (ja) (かんべん, kanben)
Norwegian: benådning (no)
Polish: łaska (pl) f
Russian: помилование (ru) (pomílovanije) n
Spanish: indulto (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Hebrew: חנינה (ĥanina) f

Kurdish: به‌خشین, لێبووران

Verb

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

(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.
(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.

Derived terms

Translations

to forgive

Arabic: عفا (ar) (3afaa), غفر (ar) (gháfara)
Catalan: perdonar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 原諒 (cmn), 原谅 (cmn) (yuánliàng), 寬恕 (cmn), 宽恕 (cmn) (kuānshù)
Finnish: antaa anteeksi
French: pardonner (fr)
German: verzeihen (de), vergeben (de)

Japanese: 許す (ja) (ゆるす, yurusu)
Norwegian: tilgi (no)
Russian: прощать (ru) (proščát') impf., простить (ru) (prostít') pf.
Scottish Gaelic: math (gd)
Spanish: perdonar (es)
Swedish: förlåta (sv)
Vietnamese: tha thứ (vi)
Volapük: pardön (vo)

to grant an official pardon

Arabic: عفا (ar) (3afaa), عذر (ar) (3ádhara)
Catalan: perdonar (ca), indultar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 赦免 (cmn) (shèmiǎn)
Finnish: armahtaa (fi)
French: pardonner (fr), gracier (fr)

German: begnadigen (de)
Japanese: 赦免する (ja) (しゃめんする, shamen-surú), 容赦する (ja) (ようしゃする, yōsha-surú), 勘弁する (ja) (かんべんする, kanben-surú)
Norwegian: benåde (no)
Russian: помиловать (ru) (pomílovat')
Spanish: indultar (es)

Translations to be checked

Arabic: اذن
French: grâce

Ido: indulgo
Swedish: förlåta, ursäkta

Interjection

Pardon?

Often used when someone does not understand what another person says.
Pardon?, What did you say?, Can you say that again?

Translations

interjection, request to repeat

Arabic: عفواً! (ar) (`áfwan!), ماذا قلت؟ (ar) (maadha qúlta? (to m.), maadha qúlti? (to f.))
Catalan: perdó (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 請再說一遍 (cmn), 请再说一遍 (cmn) (qǐng zàishuō yī biàn), 什么 (cmn) (shénme), 什麼 (cmn)
Finnish: Anteeksi?, Anteeksi kuinka?, Mitä? (colloquial)
French: désolé, excusez-moi, excuse-moi, pardon?, comment?, (plain) quoi (fr)
German: pardon?, was? (colloquial), wie? (colloquial), wie bitte?
Italian: come (it)
Japanese: (polite) はい? (ja) (hai?) ; (plain) 何? (ja) (なに?, nani?), え? (ja) (e?)

Korean: 네? (ko) (ne?)
Persian: ببخشید (fa) (bebakhšid), معذرت می‌خواهم (fa) (ma'zerat mi-xâham)
Romanian: poftim (ro) n
Russian: прошу прощения (ru) (prošú proščénija), что вы сказали (ru) (što vy skazáli)?, (plain) что? (ru) (čto?) (read: što)
Spanish: ¿cómo?, ¿perdón?, ¿ah? (Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, colloquial), ¿eh? (Cuba, Spain, colloquial), ¿mande? (Mexico, colloquial)
Swedish: ursäkta (sv)?, förlåt (sv)?, va (sv)? (highly colloquial)