What does forgive mean?

Definitions for forgive
fərˈgɪvfor·give

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word forgive.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. forgiveverb

    stop blaming or grant forgiveness

    "I forgave him his infidelity"; "She cannot forgive him for forgetting her birthday"

  2. forgiveverb

    absolve from payment

    "I forgive you your debt"

Wiktionary

  1. forgiveverb

    To pardon, to waive any negative feeling or desire for punishment.

    Only the brave know how to forgive...A coward never forgave; it is not in his nature. - Laurence Sterne

  2. forgiveverb

    To accord forgiveness.

  3. Etymology: forgiven, from forgiefan, corresponding to. Cognate with vergeven, vergeben.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To FORGIVEverb

    Etymology: forgifan, Saxon.

    Then heaven forgive him too! William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

    I do beseech your grace for charity;
    If ever any malice in your heart
    Were hid against me, now forgive me frankly.
    —— Sir Thomas Lovell, I as free forgive you,
    As I would be forgiven: I forgive all. William Shakespeare, Henry VIII.

    Slowly provok’d, she easily forgives. Matthew Prior.

    The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. Is. xxxiii. 24.

    The lord of that servant was moved with compassion, loosed him, and forgave him the debt. Mat. xviii. 27.

Wikipedia

  1. forgive

    Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may initially feel victimized or wronged, goes through a change in feelings and attitude regarding a given offender, and overcomes the impact of the offense including negative emotions such as resentment and a desire for vengeance (however justified it might be). Theorists differ, however, in the extent to which they believe forgiveness also implies replacing the negative emotions with positive attitudes (i.e. an increased ability to tolerate the offender). In certain legal contexts, forgiveness is a term for absolving or giving up all claims on account of debt, loan, obligation, or other claims.On the psychological level, forgiveness is different from simple condoning (viewing an action as harmful, yet to be “forgiven” or overlooked for certain reasons of “charity”), excusing or pardoning (merely releasing the offender from responsibility for an action), or forgetting (attempting to somehow remove from one's conscious mind, the memory of a given “offense"). In some schools of thought, it involves a personal and "voluntary" effort at the self-transformation of one's own half of a relationship with another, such that one's own self is restored to peace and ideally to what psychologist Carl Rogers has referred to as “unconditional positive regard” towards the other.As a psychological concept and virtue, the benefits of forgiveness have been explored in religious thought, social sciences and medicine. Forgiveness may be considered simply in terms of the person who forgives including forgiving themselves, in terms of the person forgiven or in terms of the relationship between the forgiver and the person forgiven. In most contexts, forgiveness is granted without any expectation of restorative justice, and without any response on the part of the offender (for example, one may forgive a person who is incommunicado or dead). In practical terms, it may be necessary for the offender to offer some form of acknowledgment, an apology, or even just ask for forgiveness, in order for the wronged person to believe themselves able to forgive as well.Social and political dimensions of forgiveness involves the strictly private and religious sphere of "forgiveness". The notion of "forgiveness" is generally considered unusual in the political field. However, Hannah Arendt considers that the "faculty of forgiveness" has its place in public affairs. The philosopher believes that forgiveness can liberate resources both individually and collectively in the face of the irreparable. During an investigation in Rwanda on the discourses and practices of forgiveness after the 1994 genocide, sociologist Benoit Guillou illustrated the extreme polysemy (multiple meanings) of the word "forgiveness" but also the eminently political character of the notion. By way of conclusion of his work, the author proposes four main figures of forgiveness to better understand, on the one hand, ambiguous uses and, on the other hand, the conditions under which forgiveness can mediate a resumption of social link.Most world religions include teachings on the nature of forgiveness, and many of these teachings provide an underlying basis for many varying modern day traditions and practices of forgiveness. Some religious doctrines or philosophies place greater emphasis on the need for humans to find some sort of divine forgiveness for their own shortcomings, others place greater emphasis on the need for humans to practice forgiveness of one another, yet others make little or no distinction between human and divine forgiveness. The term forgiveness can be used interchangeably and is interpreted many different ways by people and cultures. This is specifically important in relational communication because forgiveness is a key component in communication and the overall progression as an individual and couple or group. When all parties have a mutual viewing for forgiveness then a relationship can be maintained. "Understanding antecedents of forgiveness, exploring the physiology of forgiveness, and training people to become more forgiving all imply that we have a shared meaning for the term".

ChatGPT

  1. forgive

    Forgive means to stop feeling angry or resentful toward someone for an offense, mistake, or flaw. It involves letting go of negative feelings or grievances and granting pardon to the offender, absolving them of their wrongdoing.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Forgiveverb

    to give wholly; to make over without reservation; to resign

  2. Forgiveverb

    to give up resentment or claim to requital on account of (an offense or wrong); to remit the penalty of; to pardon; -- said in reference to the act forgiven

  3. Forgiveverb

    to cease to feel resentment against, on account of wrong committed; to give up claim to requital from or retribution upon (an offender); to absolve; to pardon; -- said of the person offending

Wikidata

  1. Forgive

    Forgive is the second studio album by American country music artist Rebecca Lynn Howard. The album was released in September 2002 by MCA Nashville. The only single released from the project, the title track, peaked at #12 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart, and was her only Top 40 country hit. "Jesus and Bartenders" was later recorded by Daryle Singletary, who released it in 2008 as a single from his album Straight from the Heart. It was originally recorded by Larry Cordle on his album Murder on Music Row.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Forgive

    for-giv′, v.t. to pardon: to overlook an offence or debt: (Spens.) to give up.—v.i. to be merciful or forgiving.—adj. Forgiv′able, capable of being forgiven.—n. Forgive′ness, pardon: remission: disposition to pardon.—adj. Forgiv′ing, ready to pardon: merciful: compassionate. [A.S. forgiefan—pfx. for-, away, giefan, to give; cf. Ger. ver-geben.]

Editors Contribution

  1. forgive

    To change, delete and release a feeling, energy, emotion, data or perception and give or receive a form of communication, enlightenment, inspiration, knowing or understanding of the root cause of a behavior, expression or spoken word and how it is intended and perceived in that moment so all effected can achieve peace

    We must all forgive easily to ensure peace in our individual and collective souls and for the evolution of humanity


    Submitted by MaryC on December 4, 2015  

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'forgive' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4197

  2. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'forgive' in Verbs Frequency: #714

How to pronounce forgive?

How to say forgive in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of forgive in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of forgive in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of forgive in a Sentence

  1. Volodymyr Zelensky:

    We will never forgive the culprits, we will defeat the evil state and hold all the perpetrators to account.

  2. Father Daniel Alkhory:

    I just keep telling the kids you have to forgive. Forgiveness will lead us to so many paths. I don't want them to grow up and be after revenge and be angry, we want to make a party for them every day.

  3. Oscar Wilde:

    Women love us for our defects. If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our intellects.

  4. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

    We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.

  5. Anibal Romero:

    Please forgive me for failing you, i'm sorry I couldn't be there... I never meant to leave you.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

forgive#10000#12860#100000

Translations for forgive

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for forgive »

Translation

Find a translation for the forgive definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"forgive." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/forgive>.

Discuss these forgive definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for forgive? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Image or illustration of

    forgive

    Credit »

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    cause to spread or flush or flood through, over, or across
    A flub
    B knead
    C suffuse
    D gloat

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for forgive: