LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
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“forgive” in Latin

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

forgive
ignoscere, absolutely, or anything, aliquid, or alicui rei; anything to anybody, alicui aliquid; also, for doing anything, quod faciam aliquid (to take no notice of the faults of others; to pardon from generosity): veniam dare alicujus rei (to forgive, instead of letting the law take its course; also to pardon from a feeling of generosity, especially of a superior): gratiam facere alicujus rei (to remit the punishment due to anything; to give a gratuitous, undeserved, and complete pardon for anything; Vid: Sall., Cat., 52, 8; Jug., 104, 5; Liv., 3, 56, in.): concedere (to pardon from kindness; e.g., peccata alicui, Cic., Verr., 2, 1, 49; also, [ = condono], with the cause on account of which the pardon is granted in the dative; e.g., peccata liberum parentum misericordiae concedere, Cic.): condonare (to excuse; forgive from a disposition of kindness; e.g., crimen hoc nobis, Cic.; also passive, uti... Jugurthae scelus condonaretur, Sall.): indulgere alicui (to overlook his faults, etc.; to forgive from kindness of heart). To forgive anybody an offence out of regard for another, alicui aliquid concedere or condonare (accusative of the offence): to forgive one’s self, sibi ignoscere: to forgive anybody’s fault, peccatum alicui ignoscere or concedere; peccato alicujus indulgere; errori or errati veniam dare (an error, mistake): to forgive anybody’s crime, delictum alicui ignoscere; delicti gratiam facere: to forgive anybody on the ground of his youth, veniam dare adolescentiae: to forgive anybody what is past, alicui praeterita ignoscere; aliquem venia donare in praeteritum: to forgive anybody an affront, condonare alicui injuriam: anything may be forgiven, aliquid ignosci potest; alicui rei venia dari potest; aliquid venia dignum est: anything cannot be forgiven, aliquid condonari or excusari non potest; alicui rei venia dari non potest; *aliquid venia indignum est.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for forgive?
The usual Latin words for “forgive” are ignōscō, concēdō, condōnō; also ut. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.