condone

See also: condoné

English

Etymology

From Latin condōno (“I forgive”), from con- (“together”) + dōnō (“I give”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈdoʊn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈdəʊn/
• Rhymes: -əʊn
• Hyphenation: con‧done

Verb

condone (third-person singular simple present condones, present participle condoning, simple past and past participle condoned)

1. (transitive) To forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]?  Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?

2. (transitive) To allow, accept or permit (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).
3. (transitive, law) To forgive (marital infidelity or other marital offense).

Related terms

► English terms derived from the PIE root *deh₃-‎ (0 c, 34 e)

Translations

to forgive

• Bulgarian: прощавам (bg) (proštavam), опрощавам (bg) (oproštavam)
• Dutch: vergeven (nl)
• Finnish: antaa anteeksi (fi)
• French: pardonner (fr)

• German: nachsehen (de), entschuldigen (de), hinwegsehen über, stillschweigend hinnehmen, stillschweigend dulden
• Russian: проща́ть (ru) (proščátʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: math
• Spanish: condonar (es) (debt, death penalty), perdonar (es)
• Swedish: överse med, ha överseende med, tolerera (sv)

to allow

• Bulgarian: позволявам (bg) (pozvoljavam), извинявам (bg) (izvinjavam)
• Dutch: toelaten (nl)
• Finnish: suvaita (fi), hyväksyä (fi)

• French: permettre (fr), autoriser (fr), tolérer (fr)
• German: zulassen (de), gestatten (de), tolerieren (de), hinnehmen (de), dulden (de), billigen (de)
• Russian: допуска́ть (ru) (dopuskátʹ), разреша́ть (ru) (razrešátʹ)

to forgive marital infidelity

• Dutch: vergeven (nl)

Anagrams

• endocon

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Spanish

Verb

condone

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of condonar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of condonar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of condonar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of condonar.