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Origin and history of forgiveness

forgiveness(n.)

Old English forgiefnes, forgifennys "pardon, forgiveness, indulgence," from past participle of forgifan (see forgive) + -ness. Contracted from *forgiven-ness. Middle English had also forgift (early 14c.).

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forgive(v.)

Middle English foryeven, from Old English forgiefan "give, grant, allow; remit (a debt), pardon (an offense)," also "give up" and "give in marriage" (past tense forgeaf, past participle forgifen); from for-, here probably "completely," + giefan "to give" (from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive").

The sense of "to give up desire or power to punish" (late Old English) is from use of such a compound as a Germanic loan-translation of Vulgar Latin *perdonare (Old Saxon fargeban, Dutch vergeven, German vergeben "to forgive," Gothic fragiban "to grant;" and see pardon (n.)). Related: Forgave; forgiven; forgiving.

-ness

word-forming element denoting action, quality, or state, attached to an adjective or past participle to form an abstract noun, from Old English -nes(s), from Proto-Germanic *in-assu- (cognates: Old Saxon -nissi, Middle Dutch -nisse, Dutch -nis, Old High German -nissa, German -nis, Gothic -inassus), from *-in-, originally belonging to the noun stem, + *-assu-, abstract noun suffix, probably from the same root as Latin -tudo (see -tude).

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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
    remission
    c. 1200, remissioun, "forgiveness or pardon (of sins)," from Old French remission "forgiveness (of sins), relief" (12c.)...
    absolution
    "remission, forgiveness," c. 1200, from Old French absolucion, earlier assolucion, from Latin absolutionem (nominative absolutio...
    compunction
    mid-14c., "remorse, contrition (for wrongdoing, as a means of attaining forgiveness of one;s sins)," from Old French compunction...
    repent
    c. 1300, repenten, "be grieved over one's past and seek forgiveness; feel such regret for sins, crimes, or omissions as produces...
    mercy
    late 12c., "God's forgiveness of his creatures' offenses," from Old French mercit, merci (9c.)...
    condonation
    "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 a
    profit
    mid-13c., "income derived from an office, property, transaction, etc.;" c. 1300, "benefit, spiritual benefit, advantage;" from Old French prufit, porfit "profit, gain" (mid-12c.), from Latin profectus "growth, advance, increase, success, progress," noun use of past participle of
    doubt
    c. 1200, douten, duten, "to dread, fear, be afraid" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French doter "doubt, be doubtful; be afraid," from Latin dubitare "to doubt, question, hesitate, waver in opinion" (related to dubius "uncertain"), from duo "two" (from PIE root *dwo- "two"), wit
    third degree
    "intense interrogation by police," 1900, probably a reference to Third Degree of master mason in Freemasonry (1772), the conferring of which included an interrogation ceremony. Third degree as a measure of severity of burns (most severe) is attested from 1866, from French (1832);

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