Forgives

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Remits or cancels a debt or obligation owed by someone ; ceases to feel resentment or anger toward someone for an offense or mistake
2. Cancels the requirement to repay money or fulfill a duty owed ; chooses to let go of anger or resentment resulting from a wrongdoing
3. Excuses or pardons an owed responsibility or repayment ; decides to overlook or pardon a fault or error and not hold it against someone

Etymology: The verb "forgives" is simply the third-person singular present of "forgive", so the useful story is in the verb itself. Its Old English ancestor, "forġiefan", was built from "for-" and "giefan", "to give", and originally meant something close to giving something away or giving it up entirely. Forgiveness, in other words, began as a gift: you handed over what was owed and let it go. Over time the prefix and the base blurred in English. Middle English had "foryiven" and "forȝiven", and the modern spelling is an alteration influenced by "give", which is why the word looks like "for" plus "give" even though, in its history, the prefix is "for-" and the base was once "yive". The same pattern appears across Germanic languages: German "vergeben", Dutch "vergeven", and Icelandic "fyrirgefa" all carry the sense of giving away or letting go.

Synonyms: pardons, absolves, excuses, overlooks, condones

Antonyms: blames, accuses, holds accountable, condemns, resent