forgiveness
nounUK /fəˈɡɪvnəs/ · US /fɚˈɡɪvnəs/
Etymology From Middle English forgiveness, forgifnes, from Old English forġiefnes. By surface analysis, forgive + -ness. Cognate with Dutch vergiffenis.
1
Usually The action of forgiving.
- He begged for forgiveness after being caught stealing from the shop.
- At the end of a week, she could bear the suspense no longer, and so went humbly to her old home and sought forgiveness.1850, T. S. Arthur, “Happy on a Little”, in Sketches of Life and Character, Philadelphia: J. W. Bradley, →OCLC, page 89:
4 more examples
- It was not a war party, so it surely was men who came to ask for peace and forgiveness.1907, Albert Ernest Jenks, Ba-Long-Long, The Igorot Boy, page 108:
- But Oh! what anguish can more poignant be Than of the heart which vainly longs to plead Forgiveness from the dead? Shall the dead heed?1913 January 23, G. E. Reece, “"The Bookman" Prize Competitions § Results of Competitions for December § Forgive!”, in The Bookman, volume XLIII, number 256:
- Some devout Christians are among the most fervent advocates of the death penalty, contradicting Jesus Christ and misinterpreting Holy Scriptures and numerous examples of mercy. We remember God’s forgiveness of Cain, who killed Abel, and the adulterer King David, who arranged the killing of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, his lover.2014, Jimmy Carter, “Full Prisons and Legal Killing”, in A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 39:
- If the incident in question causes you continued distress and negatively impacts your life, that’s where the f-word — forgiveness — may have a role to play, said psychologist Robert Enright, a pioneer in the field of forgiveness science and professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.2023 December 10, Andrea Kane, “5 tips to help you flex your forgiveness muscle”, in CNN:
2
Usually A readiness to forgive.
- If thou, Lord, shouldest marke iniquities: O Lord, who shal stand? But there is forgiuenesse with thee: that thou mayest be feared.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 130:3–4:
- The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.1931, Mahatma Gandhi, Young India:
- Synonyms
- forgiveness
- Derived terms
- it's better to ask forgiveness than permission, it's easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission, preforgiveness, unforgiveness
- Related terms
- pardon, grace, remission, absolution, amnesty, oblivion, indulgence, reprieve, reconciliation, revenge