pardoner

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

pardon + agent suffix -er

[edit] Pronunciation

• (Canadian) IPA: /ˈpɑrdənər/

[edit] Noun

pardoner (plural pardoners)

1. (historical) a medieval cleric who would sell pardons and indulgences
   • c. 1390: Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (Prologue)

     With him there rode a gentle pardonere / Of Ronceval, his friend and his compere, / That straight was comen from the court of Rome.

   • 1820: Sir Walter Scott, The Abbot

     ... old men, cheated by their wives and daughters, pillaged by their sons, and imposed on by their domestics, a braggadocia captain, a knavish pardoner or quaestionary, a country bumpkin and a wanton city dame.