2. Discharge from that which is due; relinquishment of a
claim, right, or obligation; pardon of transgression;
release from forfeiture, penalty, debt, etc.
This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed
for many for the remission of sins. --Matt. xxvi.
28.
That ples, therefore, . . . Will gain thee no
remission. --Milton.
3. Diminution of intensity; abatement; relaxation.
4. (Med.) A temporary and incomplete subsidence of the force
or violence of a disease or of pain, as destinguished from
intermission, in which the disease completely leaves the
patient for a time; abatement.
5. The act of sending back. [R.] --Stackhouse.
6. Act of sending in payment, as money; remittance.
Usage: {Forgiveness}, {Pardon}. Forgiveness is Anglo-Saxon,
and pardon Norman French, both implying a giving back.
The word pardon, being early used in our Bible, has,
in religious matters, the same sense as forgiveness;
but in the language of common life there is a
difference between them, such as we often find between
corresponding Anglo-Saxon and Norman words. Forgive
points to inward feeling, and suppose alienated
affection; when we ask forgiveness, we primarily seek
the removal of anger. Pardon looks more to outward
things or consequences, and is often applied to
trifling matters, as when we beg pardon for
interrupting a man, or for jostling him in a crowd.
The civil magistrate also grants a pardon, and not
forgiveness. The two words are, therefore, very
clearly distinguished from each other in most cases
which relate to the common concerns of life. Forgiver
\For*giv"er\, n.
One who forgives. --Johnson.