Link Centre Dictionary

forgive

for·give

UK/fə(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/ US/fɔː(ɹ)ˈɡɪv/ very common

verb

1.

stop blaming or grant forgiveness

  • “I forgave him his infidelity”
  • “She cannot forgive him for forgetting her birthday”
2.

absolve from payment

  • “I forgive you your debt”

Origin

Alteration (due to give) of Middle English foryiven, forȝiven, from Old English forġiefan (“to forgive, to give”), from Proto-West Germanic *frageban, from Proto-Germanic *fragebaną (“to give away; give up; release; forgive”), equivalent to for- + give (etymologically for- + yive). Cognate with Scots forgeve, forgif, forgie (“to forgive”), West Frisian ferjaan (“to forgive”), Dutch vergeven (“to forgive”), German vergeben (“to forgive”), Icelandic fyrirgefa (“to forgive”), Yiddish פֿאַרגעבן (fargebn, “to forgive”)

Phrases

  • forgive and forget
  • forgive but don't forget
  • forgive my French

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.