forgive

English

Etymology

Alteration (due to give) of Middle English foryiven, forȝiven, from Old English forġiefan (“to forgive, to give”), 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 forgive”), German vergeben (“to forgive”), Icelandic fyrirgefa (“to forgive”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) enPR: fər-gĭv', fôr-gĭv', IPA^(key): /fə(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/, /fɔː(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/
(General American) IPA^(key): /fɚˈɡɪv/
Audio (California): (file)
Rhymes: -ɪv

Verb

forgive (third-person singular simple present forgives, present participle forgiving, simple past forgave, past participle forgiven)

(transitive) To pardon (someone); to waive any negative feeling towards or desire for punishment or retribution against.
Please forgive me if my phone goes off - I'm expecting an urgent call from my boss.

Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.
(transitive) To pardon for (something); to waive any negative feeling over or retribution for.
Forgive us our trespasses.
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Prologue:
  Forgive these wild and wandering cries,
  ⁠Confusions of a wasted youth;
  ⁠Forgive them where they fail in truth,
  And in thy wisdom make me wise.
(transitive) To waive or remit (a debt), to absolve from payment or compensation of.
Forgive a debt, that is, tell a debtor that a repayment of a loan is no longer needed.
(intransitive) To accord forgiveness.
- a. 1768, Laurence Sterne, Joseph's History considered; - Forgiveness of Injuries (sermon)
  The brave know only how to forgive […] A coward never forgave; it is not in his nature.
(transitive) To look past; to look beyond.
The music critic loves the instrumentation of the song so much that he can forgive the confusing lyrics.
(transitive) To redeem; to offset the bad effects of something.
- 2015, Todd in the Shadows, The Top Ten Best Hit Songs of 2014:
  Okay, a good hook forgives everything.

Derived terms

Translations

transitive, to pardon

Abkhaz: анажьра (anažra)
Albanian: fal (sq)
Amharic: ይቅር ማለት (yəḳr malät)
Arabic: سَامَحَ (sāmaḥa), غَفَرَ (ḡafara)
Armenian: ներել (hy) (nerel)
Aromanian: ljert
Asturian: perdonar
Azerbaijani: bağışlamaq (az)
Basque: barkatu
Belarusian: прабача́ць impf (prabačácʹ), праба́чыць pf (prabáčycʹ), дарава́ць impf or pf (daravácʹ)
Bulgarian: проща́вам (bg) impf (proštávam), простя́ pf (prostjá), опрощавам (bg) (oproštavam)
Burmese: ခွင့်လွှတ် (my) (hkwang.hlwat), အခွင့်လွှတ် (my) (a.hkwang.hlwat)
Catalan: perdonar (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 原諒／原谅 (jyun⁴ loeng⁶), 寬恕／宽恕 (fun¹ syu³), 饒恕／饶恕 (jiu⁴ syu³)

Mandarin: 原諒／原谅 (zh) (yuánliàng), 寬恕／宽恕 (zh) (kuānshù), 饒恕／饶恕 (zh) (ráoshù)
Czech: odpouštět (cs) impf, odpustit pf
Danish: tilgive, forlade (da)
Dutch: vergeven (nl)
Esperanto: pardoni
Estonian: andestama, andeks andma
Finnish: antaa anteeksi (fi)
French: pardonner (fr)
Galician: perdoar (gl)
Georgian: პატიება (ṗaṭieba), მიტევება (miṭeveba)
German: verzeihen (de)
Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (fragiban)
Greek: συγχωρώ (el) (synchoró)
Ancient Greek: ἀφίημι (aphíēmi), χαρίζομαι (kharízomai)
Hebrew: סָלַח (he) (salákh)
Hindi: माफ़ करना (māf karnā), क्षमा करना (kṣamā karnā)
Hungarian: megbocsát (hu)
Icelandic: fyrirgefa (is)
Ido: pardonar (io)
Indonesian: memaafkan (id), mengampuni (id)
Ingrian: antaa anteeks
Irish: maith do
Old Irish: do·lugai
Italian: perdonare (it)
Japanese: 許す (ja) (yurusu), 容赦する (ja) (yōsha suru)
Kazakh: кешіру (keşıru), кешірім жасау (keşırım jasau), ғапу ету (ğapu etu), ғафу ету (ğafu etu)
Khmer: អភ័យទោស (a’pʰey tooh), អត់ទោស (ɑt tooh)
Korean: 용서하다 (yongseohada)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: لێخۆشبوون (lêxoşbûn)
Kyrgyz: кечирүү (kecirüü), кечирип коюу (kecirip koyuu)
Lao: ໃຫ້ອະໄພ (hai ʼa phai), ອະໄພ (ʼa phai)
Latgalian: pīdūt
Latin: ignōscō (la), veniam do, condōnō, iustificō, redōnō
Latvian: piedot
Lingala: límbisa
Lithuanian: atleisti, dovanoti (lt)
Low German:
German Low German: vergeven
Luxembourgish: verzeien, verginn
Macedonian: про́стува impf (próstuva), про́сти pf (prósti), опро́стува (opróstuva), про́штава impf (próštava)
Malay: memaafkan
Maori: muru
Middle English: forȝiven
Mongolian: уучлах (mn) (uučlax)
Mwali Comorian: uswamihi
Ngazidja Comorian: usamihi
Norwegian:
Bokmål: tilgi (no), forlate (no)

Nynorsk: tilgjeva, orsaka
Occitan: perdonar (oc)
Old English: forġiefan
Old Galician-Portuguese: perdõar
Old Occitan: perdonar
Persian: بخشیدن (fa) (baxšidan)
Polish: przebaczać (pl) impf, przebaczyć (pl) pf, odpuszczać (pl) impf, odpuścić (pl) pf, darowywać (pl) impf, darować (pl) pf
Portuguese: perdoar (pt), desculpar (pt)
Romanian: ierta (ro)
Russian: проща́ть (ru) impf (proščátʹ), прости́ть (ru) pf (prostítʹ), извиня́ть (ru) impf (izvinjátʹ), извини́ть (ru) pf (izvinítʹ), миловать (ru) impf (milovatʹ), помиловать (ru) pf (pomilovatʹ)
Sanskrit: मृडति (sa) (mṛḍati)
Scottish Gaelic: math
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: опра́штати impf, опро̀стити pf

Roman: opráštati (sh) impf, opròstiti (sh) pf
Slovak: odpúšťať impf, odpustiť pf
Slovene: odpuščati impf, odpustiti pf
Spanish: perdonar (es), disculpar (es)
Swahili: -samehe (sw)
Swedish: förlåta (sv)
Tajik: бахшидан (tg) (baxšidan)
Tamil: மன்னி (ta) (maṉṉi)
Tetum: perdua
Thai: ยกโทษให้ (yók tôht hâi), ให้อภัย (th) (hâi a-pai), อภัย (th) (à-pai)
Turkish: affetmek (tr), bağışlamak (tr)
Turkmen: razylaşmak, bagyşlamak (tk)
Ukrainian: проща́ти impf (proščáty), прости́ти pf (prostýty), пробача́ти impf (probačáty), проба́чити pf (probáčyty),
Urdu: معاف کرنا (māf karnā)
Uzbek: kechirmoq (uz), afv etmoq
Vietnamese: tha thứ (vi), tha (vi)
Volapük: pardön (vo)
Welsh: maddau (cy)
West Frisian: ferjou
Yiddish: פֿאַרגעבן (fargebn), מוחל זײַן (moykhl zayn)

References

“forgive”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
“forgive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.