forgiveness
nouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//fəˈɡɪvnəs//
- United States//fɚˈɡɪvnəs//
The action of forgiving.
noun
- 1
The action of forgiving.
He begged for forgiveness after being caught stealing from the shop.
At the end of a week, she could bear the suspense no longer, and so went humbly to her old home and sought forgiveness.
It was not a war party, so it surely was men who came to ask for peace and forgiveness.
But Oh! what anguish can more poignant be Than of the heart which vainly longs to plead Forgiveness from the dead? Shall the dead heed?
- 2
A readiness to forgive.
If thou, Lord, shouldest marke iniquities: O Lord, who shal stand? But there is forgiuenesse with thee: that thou mayest be feared.
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Germanic *fra- Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ- Proto-Germanic *gebaną ▲ Late Latin perdōnōcalq. Proto-Germanic *fragebaną Old English forġiefan Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Old English forġiefnes Middle English forgiveness English forgiveness From Middle English forgiveness, forgifnes, from Old English forġiefnes. By surface analysis, forgive + -ness. Cognate with Dutch vergiffenis.
Forms
- plural
- forgivenesses