• (Canada) IPA: /ˈpɑɹ.dən/
• (RP) IPA: /ˈpɑːdən/
• (America) IPA: /ˈpɑɹ.dn̩/

pardon

1. Forgiveness for an offence.
   • 1748, Samuel Richardson, Clarissa

     […] 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.
   • 1974: President Gerald Ford, Proclamation 4311

     I […] have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States […]

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

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

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

1. (transitive) To forgive (a person).
   • 1599: William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (play)

     O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!

   • 1815: Jane Austen, Emma

     I hope you will not find he has outstepped the truth more than may be pardoned, in consideration of the motive.

2. (transitive) To refrain from exacting as a penalty.
   • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [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. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,

     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: прошу́ проще́ния
• Spanish: ¿cómo?, ¿perdón?, ¿ah? (Colombia), ¿eh? (Cuba), ¿mande? (Mexico)