forgiveness

Etymology

From Middle English forgiveness, forgifnes, from Old English forġiefnes, equivalent to forgive + -ness. Cognate with Dutch vergiffenis.

noun

  1. The action of forgiving.
    He begged for forgiveness after being caught stealing from the shop.
    The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. 1931, Mahatma Gandhi, Young India
    Some devout Christians are among the most fervent advocates of the death penalty, contradicting Jesus Christ and misinterpreting Holy Scriptures and numerous examples of mercy. We remember God’s forgiveness of Cain, who killed Abel, and the adulterer King David, who arranged the killing of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, his lover. 2014, Jimmy Carter, “Full Prisons and Legal Killing”, in A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, Simon & Schuster, →OCLC, page 39
  2. Readiness to forgive.

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