pardon

See also: Pardon and pardön

English

Etymology

From Middle English pardonen, from Old French pardoner (modern French pardonner), from Late Latin perdonare, from per- + donare, possibly a calque (if not vice-versa) of a Germanic word represented by Frankish *firgeban (“to forgive, give up completely”), from *fir- + *geban. Akin to Old High German fargeban, firgeban (“to forgive”), Old English forġiefan (“to forgive”). More at forgive.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑːdn̩/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑɹdn̩/, [ˈpʰɑ˞dn̩]

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈpaːdɘn/, [ˈpʰäːɾɘn]
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)dən
• Hyphenation: par‧don

Noun

pardon (countable and uncountable, plural pardons)

1. Forgiveness for an offence.

   Synonym: clemency

   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John Osborn, […], →OCLC:

     […] a step, that could not be taken with the least hope of ever obtaining pardon from or reconciliation with any of my friends; […]

   • 1997, Denise Keyes Filios, Women Out of Bounds:

     According to this logic, the pardons Balteira gained on her pilgrimage should have revirginated her, and would have if she had an 'iron box', or a firm dedication to her Christian faith, with which to guard her chastity.”

2. (law) An order that releases a convicted criminal without further punishment, prevents future punishment, or (in some jurisdictions) removes an offence from a person's criminal record, as if it had never been committed.

   The President […] shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

   • 1974 September 8, Gerald R. Ford, 00:24 from the start, in Proclamation 4311‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 May 2017, page 2‎^[2]:

     NOW, THEREFORE, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July^{[sic – meaning January]} 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.

   • 2001, Barbara Olson, “The Final Frenzy: Finishing Touches on the Legend”, in The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House‎^[3] (Politics/Current Affairs), Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 7:

     But the president's most irreversible, almost God-like power is the authority granted to him under Article II, Section 2, of the United States Constitution, "to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses Against the United States. . . ."
     The power is absolute-even a serial killer could be pardoned-and utterly unreviewable. It cannot be rescinded by the next president. The president may grant a pardon before a trial, after a trial, or without a trial. Once granted, a pardon can never be taken away.

   • 2024 December 5, Marshall Cohen, MJ Lee, Paula Reid and Katelyn Polantz, “Biden White House considering preemptive pardons for Trump’s perceived enemies”, in CNN‎^[4]:

     A source familiar with Trump legal strategy says his team believes Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter has set a new precedent for presidents to issue expansive pardons to their children – and this could be something Trump chooses to do before he leaves office.

Derived terms

• begging your pardon
• beg pardon
• beg someone's pardon
• I beg your pardon
• pardonee
• Pardongate
• pardonless
• pardonmonger
• Paschal pardon
• prepardon
• self-pardon

Translations

forgiveness for an offence

• American Sign Language: BentB@BaseHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross BentB@TipHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross
• Arabic: إِبْرَاء m (ʔibrāʔ), إِعْفَاء m (ʔiʕfāʔ)
• Armenian: ներում (hy) (nerum)
• Azerbaijani: əfv (az)
• Belarusian: прабачэ́нне n (prabačénnje), прабачэ́ньне n (prabačénʹnje), дарава́нне n (daravánnje), дарава́ньне n (daravánʹnje)
• Bulgarian: опроще́ние (bg) n (oprošténie), про́шка (bg) f (próška)
• Catalan: perdó (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 原諒 / 原谅 (zh) (yuánliàng)

• Czech: odpuštění (cs) n
• Danish: tilgivelse (da)
• Dutch: vergeving (nl) f
• Esperanto: pardono
• Finnish: anteeksianto (fi)
• French: pardon (fr) m
• Galician: indulto (gl) m
• Georgian: პატიება (ṗaṭieba)
• German: Vergebung (de) f, Verzeihung (de) f
• Greek: χάρη (el) f (chári), αμνηστία (el) f (amnistía) (preemptive pardon)
• Hebrew: סְלִיחָה (he) f (s'likhá), מְחִילָה (he) f (m'khilá)
• Hungarian: bocsánat (hu)
• Italian: perdono (it) m
• Japanese: 許し (ja) (ゆるし, yurushi)
• Kazakh: кешірім (keşırım)
• Korean: 용서(容恕) (ko) (yongseo)
• Macedonian: про́шка f (próška), просту́вање n (prostúvanje)
• Manx: maihnys m
• Māori: murunga
• Muna: maafu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tilgivelse m

• Polish: przebaczenie (pl) n, wybaczenie (pl) n, darowanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: perdão (pt) m
• Russian: проще́ние (ru) n (proščénije)
• Slovak: odpustenie n
• Spanish: perdón (es) m
• Swahili: masamaha
• Swedish: ursäkt (sv) c
• Turkish: pardon (tr)
• Ukrainian: проще́ння n (proščénnja), ви́бачення n (výbačennja), проба́чення n (probáčennja), дарува́ння n (daruvánnja)

releasing order — see also amnesty,‎ commutation,‎ absolution,‎ exculpation

• Albanian: falje (sq) f
• American Sign Language: BentB@BaseHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross BentB@TipHand-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterSternumhigh-UlnarAcross
• Arabic: عَفْو (ar) m (ʕafw), صَفْح m (ṣafḥ)
• Armenian: ներում (hy) (nerum)
• Azerbaijani: əfv (az)
• Belarusian: памі́лаванне n (pamílavannje), памі́лаваньне n (pamílavanʹnje)
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: поми́лване (bg) n (pomílvane), амнистия (bg) f (amnistija)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: perdó (ca) m, indult (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 赦免 (se³ min⁵)

  Mandarin: 赦免 (zh) (shèmiǎn)

• Czech: milost (cs) f
• Danish: benådning c
• Dutch: pardon (nl) n
• Estonian: armuandmine
• Finnish: armahdus (fi)
• French: grâce (fr) f
• Georgian: შეწყალება (šec̣q̇aleba)
• German: Begnadigung (de) f
• Greek: αμνηστεία (el) f (amnisteía), χάρη (el) f (chári)
• Hebrew: חֲנִינָה (he) f (khaniná)
• Hindi: क्षमादान m (kṣamādān), माफ़ी f (māfī)
• Hungarian: kegyelem (hu)
• Icelandic: náðun f
• Indonesian: grasi (id)
• Irish: pardún m
• Italian: grazia (it) f
• Japanese: 赦免 (ja) (しゃめん, shamen), 恩赦 (ja) (おんしゃ, onsha), 勘弁 (ja) (かんべん, kanben)
• Kazakh: кешірім (keşırım)
• Khmer: និទ្ទោសកម្ម (nittoosaʼkam)
• Korean: 은사(恩赦) (eunsa), 사면(赦免) (ko) (samyeon)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: efû (ku)

• Kyrgyz: кечирим (ky) (kecirim)
• Lao: ອະໄພໂທດ (ʼa phai thōt)
• Latvian: žēlastība (lv) f
• Lithuanian: malonė f
• Macedonian: помилу́вање n (pomilúvanje), амне́стија f (amnéstija)
• Malay: pengampunan
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: өршөөл (mn) (öršööl)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: benådning m or f

• Pashto: عفو (ps) f ('áfwa)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: عَفْو (fa) (afv)

• Polish: łaska (pl) f, ułaskawienie (pl) n
• Portuguese: indulto (pt) m, absolvição (pt) f
• Romanian: grațiere (ro) f
• Russian: поми́лование (ru) n (pomílovanije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: помилова́ње n

  Latin: pomilovánje (sh) n

• Slovak: milosť n
• Slovene: pomilostitev f
• Spanish: indulto (es) m, condonación f
• Swedish: benådning (sv) c, benådan c, amnesti (sv) c
• Tajik: афв (afv), муофӣ (muofi)
• Thai: อภัยโทษ (th) (à-pai-yá-tôot)
• Turkish: af (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: عفو (ʻafv)

• Turkmen: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: поми́лування n (pomýluvannja)
• Urdu: مُعَافی f (mu'āfī), عَفْو m ('afv)
• Uyghur: كەچۈرۈم (kechürüm)
• Uzbek: afv (uz), afv etish, kechirim (uz)
• Vietnamese: xá tội (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} بەخشین (bexşîn), ^{(please verify)} لێبووران (lêbûran)

Verb

pardon (third-person singular simple present pardons, present participle pardoning, simple past and past participle pardoned)

1. (transitive) To forgive (a person).

   Synonym: amnesty

   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!

   • 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], Emma: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC:

     I hope you will not find he has outstepped the truth more than may be pardoned, in consideration of the motive.

   • 1793 March 19, Hester Piozzi, Thraliana:

     Well! the King of France died pardoning & pitying all those who had tortured his Soul & Body, a great Pattern for us all.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.

2. (transitive) To refrain from exacting as a penalty.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.

3. (transitive, law) To grant an official pardon for a crime.
   • 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC:

     The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.

   • 2024 December 5, Marshall Cohen, MJ Lee, Paula Reid and Katelyn Polantz, “Biden White House considering preemptive pardons for Trump’s perceived enemies”, in CNN‎^[5]:

     In that situation, that memo would include a list of individuals that Biden might consider pardoning preemptively, the context about any prior legal precedent, and a discussion of the wide range of potential ramifications if the president does move forward with these pardons.

   • 2025 March 28, Kevin Liptak, “Trump pardons Trevor Milton, who was accused of fraud related to bankrupt truck maker Nikola”, in CNN‎^[6]:

     President Donald Trump says he pardoned Trevor Milton, the CEO of now-defunct hydrogen and electric truck firm Nikola, in part because he believed Milton was persecuted for supporting Trump’s political ambitions.

Derived terms

• pardonable
• pardoner
• pardon me
• pardon mon français
• pardon my French
• pardon the expression
• self-pardon
• unpardonable
• unpardoning

Translations

to forgive — see forgive

to grant an official pardon — see also commute,‎ absolve,‎ exculpate

• Arabic: عَفَا (ʕafā)
• Azerbaijani: əfv etmək (az)
• Belarusian: мі́лаваць impf (mílavacʹ), памі́лаваць pf (pamílavacʹ)
• Bulgarian: помилвам (bg) (pomilvam), амнистирам (bg) (amnistiram)
• Catalan: perdonar (ca), indultar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 赦免 (zh) (shèmiǎn)

• Dutch: gratiëren (nl)
• Esperanto: amnestii
• Finnish: armahtaa (fi)
• French: pardonner (fr), gracier (fr)
• Galician: indultar
• Georgian: შეწყალება (šec̣q̇aleba)
• German: begnadigen (de)
• Japanese: 赦免する (ja) (しゃめんする, shamen-suru), 容赦する (ja) (ようしゃする, yōsha-suru), 勘弁する (ja) (かんべんする, kanben-suru)
• Macedonian: поми́лува (pomíluva), сми́лува (smíluva)
• Norwegian: benåde
• Occitan: graciar
• Persian: عفو کردن (fa) ('afv kardan)
• Polish: ułaskawiać impf, ułaskawić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: indultar, absolver (pt)
• Punic: 𐤍𐤔𐤀 (nšʾ)
• Romanian: grația (ro), pardona (ro)
• Russian: ми́ловать (ru) impf (mílovatʹ), поми́ловать (ru) pf (pomílovatʹ)
• Spanish: indultar (es), condonar (es), amnistiar (es)
• Swedish: benåda (sv)
• Thai: อภัยโทษ (th) (à-pai-yá-tôot)
• Ukrainian: ми́лувати impf (mýluvaty), поми́лувати pf (pomýluvaty)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} اذن
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} indulgo (io)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} förlåta (sv), ^{(please verify)} ursäkta (sv)

Interjection

pardon?

1. Often used when someone does not understand what another person says.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:say again

Translations

interjection, request to repeat

• Arabic: عَفْواً! (ʕafwan!), (to a male) مَاذَا قُلْتَ؟ (māḏā qulta?), (to a female) مَاذَا قُلْتِ؟ (māḏā qulti?)
• Bulgarian: моля? (bg) (molja?)
• Catalan: perdó (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 請再說一遍 / 请再说一遍 (zh) (qǐng zàishuō yī biàn), 什么 (zh) (shénme), 什麼 / 什么 (zh)

• Czech: prosím? (cs)
• Danish: hvadbehager (da), hvad (da), undskyld mig
• Dutch: pardon? (nl), sorry? (nl), excuseer? (nl)
• Finnish: anteeksi? (fi), anteeksi kuinka?; mitä? (fi) (colloquial)
• French: désolé (fr), excusez-moi (fr), excuse-moi (fr), pardon?, comment?, (plain) quoi (fr)
• Georgian: ბატონო? (baṭono?), უკაცრავად? (uḳacravad?)
• German: pardon?, was? (colloquial), wie? (colloquial), wie bitte?, wie meinen?
• Greek: συγγνώμη; (el) (syngnómi?)
• Greenlandic: qanoq?
• Hebrew: סְלִיחָה (he) f (s'likhá)
• Icelandic: ha? (is), hvað sagðirðu?
• Italian: come (it)
• Japanese: (polite) はい? (ja) (hai?) ; (plain) 何? (ja) (なに?, nani?), え? (ja) (e?)
• Korean: 네? (ko) (ne?)
• Macedonian: мо́лам? (mólam?), (plain) што? (što?), (plain) ка́ко? (káko?)
• Persian: ببخشید (fa) (bebaxšid), معذرت می‌خواهم (ma'zerat mi-xâham)
• Polish: proszę (pl)
• Portuguese: perdão? (pt), como? (pt)
• Romanian: poftim (ro) n, pardon (ro)
• Russian: прошу́ проще́ния (prošú proščénija), что вы сказа́ли (što vy skazáli)?, (plain) что? (ru) (što?)
• Spanish: ¿cómo (es)?, ¿perdón (es)?, ¿ah (es)? (Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, colloquial), ¿eh (es)? (Cuba, Spain, colloquial), ¿mande (es)? (Mexico, colloquial)
• Swedish: ursäkta (sv)?, förlåt (sv)?, va (sv)? (highly colloquial)

Anagrams

• Padron

Czech

Alternative forms

• pardón

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpardon]

• Audio:

  (file)

Interjection

pardon

1. sorry, I'm sorry, I beg your pardon, I apologize

   Synonyms: omlouvám se, promiňte, promiň, sorry, soráč

Further reading

• “pardon”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “pardon”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French pardon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɑrˈdɔn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: par‧don
• Rhymes: -ɔn

Interjection

pardon

2. I'm sorry, pardon

Descendants

• Negerhollands: pardon, bardon
• → Saramaccan: padón

Noun

pardon n (plural pardons, no diminutive)

2. (law) pardon, clemency

Descendants

• Negerhollands: pardon, bardon

French

Etymology

Deverbal from pardonner.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paʁ.dɔ̃/

• Audio (France):

  (file)

• Audio (Quebec):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Interjection

pardon

1. excuse me
2. sorry

Descendants

• → Bulgarian: пардон (pardon) (colloquial)
• → Czech: pardon (colloquial)
• → Dutch: pardon
  • Negerhollands: pardon, bardon
  • → Saramaccan: padón
• → English: pardon
• → Greek: μπαρδόν (bardón)
• → Hungarian: pardon
• → Macedonian: пардон (pardon)
• → Ottoman Turkish: پاردون (pardon)
  • Turkish: pardon
• → Polish: pardon
• → Romanian: pardon
• → Russian: пардон (pardon) (colloquial)

Noun

pardon m (plural pardons)

1. pardon, forgiveness

Derived terms

• demander pardon
• Grand Pardon

Descendants

• → Dutch: pardon
  • Negerhollands: pardon, bardon
• → German: Pardon
• Haitian Creole: padon
• → Hungarian: pardon
• → Romanian: pardon
• → Swedish: pardon

Further reading

• “pardon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Anagrams

• pondra

Hungarian

Etymology

From French pardon, primarily via German Pardon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈpɒrdon]
• Hyphenation: par‧don
• Rhymes: -on

Interjection

pardon

1. pardon!, pardon me!, excuse me!, I beg your pardon!, sorry!

   Synonym: bocsánat

Noun

pardon

1. (dated, law) pardon

   Synonym: kegyelem

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	pardon	pardonok
accusative	pardont	pardonokat
dative	pardonnak	pardonoknak
instrumental	pardonnal	pardonokkal
causal-final	pardonért	pardonokért
translative	pardonná	pardonokká
terminative	pardonig	pardonokig
essive-formal	pardonként	pardonokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	pardonban	pardonokban
superessive	pardonon	pardonokon
adessive	pardonnál	pardonoknál
illative	pardonba	pardonokba
sublative	pardonra	pardonokra
allative	pardonhoz	pardonokhoz
elative	pardonból	pardonokból
delative	pardonról	pardonokról
ablative	pardontól	pardonoktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	pardoné	pardonoké
non-attributive possessive – plural	pardonéi	pardonokéi

Possessive forms of pardon

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	pardonom	pardonjaim
2nd person sing.	pardonod	pardonjaid
3rd person sing.	pardonja	pardonjai
1st person plural	pardonunk	pardonjaink
2nd person plural	pardonotok	pardonjaitok
3rd person plural	pardonjuk	pardonjaik

Derived terms

Expressions

• nem ismer pardont

Further reading

• pardon in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

French pardonnerdeverb.

French pardonbor.

Polish pardon

Borrowed from French pardon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpar.dɔn/, /parˈdɔw̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ardɔn, -ɔw̃
• Syllabification: par‧don

Noun

pardon m inan

1. (dated) pardon, forgiveness

   Synonyms: przebaczenie, wybaczenie

Declension

Declension of pardon

	singular	plural
nominative	pardon	pardony
genitive	pardonu	pardonów
dative	pardonowi	pardonom
accusative	pardon	pardony
instrumental	pardonem	pardonami
locative	pardonie	pardonach
vocative	pardonie	pardony

Derived terms

adjective

• bezpardonowy

adverb

• bezpardonowo

noun

• bezpardonowość

verb

• pardonować

Interjection

pardon

1. (colloquial) sorry, excuse me, I beg your pardon

   Synonym: przepraszam

Further reading

• “pardon”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[7] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “pardon”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[8] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French pardon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /parˈdon/

Interjection

pardon

1. pardon!, pardon me!, excuse me!, I beg your pardon!, sorry!

Noun

pardon n (uncountable)

1. (dated) pardon, pardoning, forgiveness, excuse

Synonyms

• iertare, scuză

See also

• poftim

Swedish

Noun

pardon c

1. (usually negated) mercy

   utan pardon ― without mercy

Synonyms

• nåd

References

• “pardon”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “pardon”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “pardon”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• pandor

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish پاردون (pardon), from French pardon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpaɾ.don/

Interjection

pardon

1. pardon!, pardon me!, excuse me!, I beg your pardon!, sorry!