forgiveness

/fəˈɡɪvnəs/fur-GIV-nuhs

/fɚˈɡɪvnəs/fur-GIV-nuhs

Meaningthe state of forgiving

Common meaning: pardon

foraway; wrongly; utterlySkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 216 · scan
giveto giveSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 216 · scan
nessnoun ending: the state of being

‘away’ + ‘to give’ → forgiveness

Journey through time

Old Englishfor- + gifan‘away; wrongly; utterly + to give’source
Old Englishforgifan‘forgive or give up’source B&T
Middle Englishforgivensource
Englishforgive‘stop blaming someone’
Englishformed in English from forgiveforgiveness‘pardon’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from forgive + -ness.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), FORGIVE, p.216 · scan

Roots

forgifan Old English “forgive or give up”
giefan Old English “to give”

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