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forgive

Pronunciation: /fə(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/

The English word “forgive” has 6 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against.
  2. To pardon (something); to waive any negative feeling over or retribution for.
  3. To waive or remit (a debt), to absolve from payment or compensation of.
  4. To accord forgiveness.
  5. To look past; to look beyond.
  6. To redeem; to offset the bad effects of something.

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…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.