Forgiveness

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /fəˈɡɪvnəs/

Definitions

1. The act of ceasing to hold resentment against someone who has wronged you, or the willingness to pardon an offense without seeking retribution
2. The state of releasing anger and resentment toward someone who has caused harm, choosing pardon over punishment or continued ill will
3. An act of grace wherein one absolves another of guilt for their wrongdoing and relinquishes demands for recompense or vengeance

Etymology: Forgiveness is a plain compound of "forgive" and the suffix "-ness", which turns an adjective or verb-derived idea into an abstract noun. The base verb "forgive" comes from Old English "forgiefan", built from the prefix "for-", which here carries the sense of "away" or "completely", and "giefan", "to give". To forgive, then, was originally to give something up entirely, letting a debt or wrong go rather than holding onto it. The noun itself took shape in Old English as "forġiefnes", and it passed through Middle English as "forgifnes" before settling into its modern spelling. Its close relative in Dutch, "vergiffenis", shows that the same idea of giving something away was shared across the Germanic languages.

Synonyms: pardon, absolution, exoneration, clemency, remission

Antonyms: resentment, grudge, vindictiveness, retribution