pardon
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the act of forgiving someone for a mistake or for bad behaviour.
n.the act of excusing a mistake, discourtesy, or minor offence in a social context.
Simple“I beg your pardon for being so late to the dinner party.”
In context“He sought her pardon for the insensitive remarks he had made during the heated debate the previous evening.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to officially or formally forgive someone for a crime or a mistake.
v.to grant a formal remission of a penalty or to excuse a social transgression.
Simple“The president decided to pardon the prisoner after new evidence was found.”
In context“The governor was pressured to pardon the activist, whose imprisonment was seen by many as a violation of civil liberties.”
- 03 A2 Elementary
interj.a polite way to say 'What?' when you did not hear or understand something.
interj.a formulaic expression used to request that a speaker repeat their previous statement due to a lack of comprehension or audibility.
Simple“Pardon? I didn't catch that last part because of the noise.”
In context“Pardon? Could you please clarify the third point of the proposal, as the connection was momentarily unstable?”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.