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Forgive
Definitions
- 1 To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against. transitive
"Please forgive me if my phone goes off - I'm expecting an urgent call from my boss."
- 2 stop blaming or grant forgiveness wordnet
- 3 To pardon (something); to waive any negative feeling over or retribution for. transitive
"Forgive these wild and wandering cries, Confusions of a wasted youth; Forgive them where they fail in truth, And in thy wisdom make me wise."
- 4 absolve from payment wordnet
- 5 To waive or remit (a debt), to absolve from payment or compensation of. transitive
"Forgive a debt, that is, tell a debtor that a repayment of a loan is no longer needed."
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- 6 To accord forgiveness. intransitive
"The brave know only how to forgive […] A coward never forgave; it is not in his nature."
- 7 To look past; to look beyond. transitive
"The music critic loves the instrumentation of the song so much that he can forgive the confusing lyrics."
- 8 To redeem; to offset the bad effects of something. transitive
"Okay, a good hook forgives everything."
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”)
See also for "forgive"
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