For-gīve'ness, n.
n. 1. The act of forgiving; the pardon of an offender, by which he is considered and treated as not guilty; the pardon or remission of an offense, crime, debt, or penalty; as, the forgiveness of sin or of injuries.
Sense 2. Disposition to pardon; willingness to forgive.
And mild forgiveness intercede To stop the coming blow. Dryden.
Synonyms—Pardon; remission.—FORGIVENESS, PARDON. Forgiveness is Anglo-Saxon, and pardon Norman-French, both denoting to give 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 supposes 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.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet: Mine and my father's death come not upon thee, Nor thine on me. Shak.
What better can we do than prostrate fall Before him reverent, and there confess Humbly our faults, and pardon beg, with tears Watering the ground? Milton.