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Origin and history of condonation

condonation(n.)

"act of pardoning a wrong act," 1620s, from Latin condonationem (nominative condonatio) "a giving away," noun of action from past-participle stem of condonare "to give up, remit, permit," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see con-), + donare "give as a gift" (from donum "gift," from PIE root *do- "to give").

Condonation is the remission of a matrimonial offence known to the remitting party to have been committed by the other; on the condition subsequent that ever afterward the party remitting shall be treated by the other with conjugal kindness. [Joel Prentiss Bishop, "Commentaries on the Law of Marriage and Divorce," 1864]

also from 1620s

Entries linking to condonation

condone(v.)

1857, "to forgive or pardon" (something wrong), especially by implication, from Latin condonare "to give up, remit, permit," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see con-), + donare "give as a gift," from donum "gift" (from PIE root *do- "to give").

It is attested from 1620s as a dictionary word. Living use of it probably is from its appearance as a legal term in the Matrimonial Causes Act (1857), which made divorce a civil matter in Britain (see condonation).

Condone, an old legal technicality, has, of late, received a popular welcome, as a stately euphemism for 'pardon' or 'overlook'. [Fitzedward Hall, "Modern English," 1873] 

The general sense of "tolerate, sanction" is by 1962. Related: Condoned; condoning.

con-

word-forming element meaning "together, with," sometimes merely intensive; it is the form of com- used in Latin before consonants except -b-, -p-, -l-, -m-, or -r-. In native English formations (such as costar), co- tends to be used where Latin would use con-.

*do-

*dō-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to give."

It might form all or part of: anecdote; antidote; betray; condone; dacha; dado; data; date (n.1) "time;" dative; deodand; die (n.); donation; donative; donor; Dorian; Dorothy; dose; dowager; dower; dowry; edition; endow; Eudora; fedora; Isidore; mandate; Pandora; pardon; perdition; Polydorus; render; rent (n.1) "payment for use of property;" sacerdotal; samizdat; surrender; Theodore; Theodosia; vend.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit dadati "gives," danam "offering, present;" Old Persian dadatuv "let him give;" Greek didomi, didonai, "to give, offer," dōron "gift;" Latin dare "to give, grant, offer," donum "gift;" Armenian tam "to give;" Old Church Slavonic dati "give," dani "tribute;" Lithuanian duoti "to give," duonis "gift;" Old Irish dan "gift, endowment, talent," Welsh dawn "gift."

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    pardon
    c. 1300, pardoun, "papal indulgence, forgiveness of sins or wrongdoing," from Old French pardon, from pardoner "to grant; forgive" (11c., Modern French pardonner), "to grant, forgive," and directly from Medieval Latin perdonum, from Vulgar Latin *perdonare "to give wholeheartedly
    rogue
    1560s, "idle vagrant, sturdy beggar, one of the vagabond class," a word of shadowy origin, perhaps a shortened form of roger (with a hard -g-), thieves' slang for a begging vagabond who pretends to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge, which is perhaps an agent noun in Engl
    dapper
    mid-15c., "elegant, neat, trim," from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German dapper "bold, strong, sturdy," later "quick, nimble," from Proto-Germanic *dapraz (source also of Old High German tapfar "heavy," German tapfer "brave"), perhaps with ironical shift of meaning, from PIE root
    fear
    Middle English fere, from Old English fær "calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack," from Proto-Germanic *feraz "danger" (source also of Old Saxon far "ambush," Old Norse far "harm, distress, deception," Dutch gevaar, German Gefahr "danger"), from PIE *pēr-, a lengthened fo
    industry
    late 15c., "cleverness, skill," from Old French industrie "activity; aptitude, experience" (14c.) or directly from Latin industria "diligence, activity, zeal," noun use of fem. of industrius "active, diligent," from early Latin indostruus "diligent," from indu "in, within" (from
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    "the tendency of fluids to pass through porous partitions and mix with each other; the diffusion of fluids through membranes," 1867, Latinized from osmose (1854), a shortened form of endosmose "inward passage of a fluid through a porous septum" (1829), from endo- "inward," which
    coherence
    1580s, "suitable connection or dependence, consistency" (in narrative or argument), also more literally "act or state of sticking or cleaving of one thing to another," from French cohérence (16c.), from Latin cohaerentia, abstract noun from cohaerentem (nominative cohaerens), pre
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    1833, in biology, "reversion by influence of heredity to ancestral characteristics, resemblance of a given organism to some remote ancestor, return to an early or original type," from French atavisme, attested by 1820s, said to have been coined by French botanist Antoine-Nicolas
    salon
    1690s, "large room or apartment in a palace or great house," from French salon "reception room" (17c.), from Italian salone "large hall," from sala "hall," from a Germanic source (compare Old English sele, Middle English salle, Old Norse salr "hall," Old High German sal "hall, ho
    fellowship
    c. 1200, feolahschipe "companionship," from fellow + -ship. The sense of "a body of companions" is from late 13c. The meaning "spirit of comradeship, friendliness" is from late 14c. As a state of privilege in English colleges, from 1530s. In Middle English it was at times a euphe

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