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, from *fir- + *geban.

• (RP) IPA: /ˈpɑːdn̩/
• (America, Canada) IPA: /ˈpɑɹd(ə)n/, [ˈpʰɑ˞dn̩]
• (New Zealand) IPA: /ˈpaːdɘn/, [ˈpʰäːɾɘn]

pardon

1. Forgiveness for an offence.
   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC ↗:

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

2. (legal) 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.

• French: pardon
• German: Vergebung, Verzeihung
• Italian: perdono
• Portuguese: perdão
• Russian: проще́ние
• Spanish: perdón

• French: grâce
• German: Begnadigung
• Italian: grazia
• Portuguese: indulto, absolvição
• Russian: поми́лование
• Spanish: indulto

pardon (pardons, present participle pardoning; simple past and past participle pardoned)

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

   • 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, legal) 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.

• French: pardonner
• German: verzeihen, vergeben
• Portuguese: perdoar
• Russian: проща́ть
• Spanish: perdonar

• French: pardonner, gracier
• German: begnadigen
• Portuguese: indultar, absolver
• Russian: ми́ловать
• Spanish: indultar

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

• See also Thesaurus:say again

• French: désolé, excusez-moi, excuse-moi, pardon?, comment?, (plain) quoi
• Italian: come
• Portuguese: perdão?, como?
• Russian: прошу прощения
• Spanish: ¿cómo?, ¿perdón?, ¿ah? (Colombia), ¿eh? (Cuba), ¿mande? (Mexico)