PARDON

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pardon mean? 

• PARDON (noun)
  The noun PARDON has 3 senses:

1. the act of excusing a mistake or offense

2. a warrant granting release from punishment for an offense

3. the formal act of liberating someone

  Familiarity information: PARDON used as a noun is uncommon.

• PARDON (verb)
  The verb PARDON has 2 senses:

1. accept an excuse for

2. grant a pardon to

  Familiarity information: PARDON used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PARDON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of excusing a mistake or offense

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

forgiveness; pardon

Hypernyms ("pardon" is a kind of...):

benignity; kindness (a kind act)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pardon"):

condonation (a pardon by treating the offender as if the offense had not occurred)

exculpation (the act of freeing from guilt or blame)

Derivation:

pardon (accept an excuse for)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A warrant granting release from punishment for an offense

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

amnesty; pardon

Hypernyms ("pardon" is a kind of...):

warrant (a writ from a court commanding police to perform specified acts)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

pardon (grant a pardon to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The formal act of liberating someone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

amnesty; free pardon; pardon

Hypernyms ("pardon" is a kind of...):

clemency; mercifulness; mercy (leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Derivation:

pardon (grant a pardon to)

• PARDON (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they pardon    ... he / she / it pardons   
Past simple: pardoned   
Past participle: pardoned   
-ing form: pardoning   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Accept an excuse for

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

excuse; pardon

Context example:

Please excuse my dirty hands

Hypernyms (to "pardon" is one way to...):

forgive (stop blaming or grant forgiveness)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

pardon (the act of excusing a mistake or offense)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Grant a pardon to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The Thanksgiving turkey was pardoned by the President

Hypernyms (to "pardon" is one way to...):

forgive (stop blaming or grant forgiveness)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "pardon"):

amnesty (grant a pardon to (a group of people))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody something

Derivation:

pardon (the formal act of liberating someone)

pardon (a warrant granting release from punishment for an offense)

pardoner (a medieval cleric who raised money for the church by selling papal indulgences)

pardoner (a person who pardons or forgives or excuses a fault or offense)

 Context examples 

She had a feeling that Father and Mother would not approve, and preferred to have her own way first, and beg pardon afterward.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“I beg your pardon, ma'am,” faltered my mother.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Sir, I was too plain; I beg your pardon.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But I beg your pardon; I have interrupted you.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

“Do you crave my pardon, sir?”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Ask your pardon, sir, you would be very wrong,” quoth Silver.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Beg your pardon, Sir Charles,” said he; “but it shocks me very much to see your cravat.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What does it avail that I now ask thee to pardon me?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I’m sure I beg pardon.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you only knew the problem I have to face, and that I am working out, you would pity, and tolerate, and pardon me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)