lenity
noun/ˈlɛnɪti/
Etymology Borrowed from Middle French lénité, from Latin lēnitās (whence -ity), from lēnis (“soft”).
1
leniency, mercy, forgiveness
- His Highneſſe pleaſure is that he ſhould liue, And be reclaim’d with princely lenitie.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene ii:
- In the ſeveral Debates upon this Impeachment, it muſt be confeſſed that his Majeſty gave many marks Of his great Lenity, often urging the Services you had done him, and endeavouring to extenuate your Crimes.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author being Informed of a Design to Accuse Him of High-Treason, Makes His Escape to Blefuscu. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 121:
1 more example
- If his judgment in this case was erroneous, be it remembered it was his own; nor let the narrator be accountable for an excess of lenity and good nature peculiarly characteristic of the man.1838, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XX, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 309:
- Derived terms
- rule of lenity, semperlenity