v. Pa. t. forgave. Pa. pple. forgiven. Forms: see GIVE. [OE. forȝiefan (f. FOR-pref.1 + ȝiefan: see GIVE v.), corresponding to Du. vergeven, OHG. far-, fer-, for-, furgeban (Ger. vergeben), ON. fyrirgefa (Sw. förgifva, MDa. forgive) to forgive, Goth. fragiban to grant.]
† 1. trans. To give, grant. Obs.
c. 900. trans. Bæda’s Hist., I. xvi, [xxvii.] (1890), 82, 84. Forþon ne bið þæt forȝifen þætte alefed bið, ac þæet bið riht.
971. Blickl. Hom., 31. Ealra þara gifa þe he middanȝearde forgeaf þurh his tocyme.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 229. He forȝiaf blinde manne ȝesechðe.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XVIII. 76.
| For he was knyȝte & kynges sone · kynde forȝaf þat tyme, | |
| Þat non harlot were so hardy · to leyne hande vppon hym. |
1483. Vulgaria abs Terentio, 2 b. The grettist tresoure that j hadd j forgafe the.
† 2. To give up, cease to harbor (resentment, wrath). Also, to give up one’s resolve (to do something). Obs.
c. 1200. Ormin, 1466. Aȝȝ whannse þu forrȝifesst tuss þin wraþþe.
c. 1305. Pilate, 167, in E. E. P. (1862), 115. He wende … þat he hadde forȝeue him his wraþþe.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Paternoster, Wks. (1880), 200. Here men moten forȝeue þe rancour, hate & euyl wille of here herte to here neiȝeboris.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Huon, lxxxiii. 257. Than king Oberon was content, & in his herte forgaue all the yll wyll that he had to Huon & as he sat at diner, he began to wepe.
1564. Carsewell’s Lett., in Wodr. Soc. Misc. (1844), 285. I can nocht forgif to do my sobir diligens in furderance of the Kirk.
3. To remit (a debt); to give up resentment or claim to requital for, pardon (an offence). Const. a. with simple object.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 662 (Gr.). He forgitð hit.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 67.
| Ower hating | |
| forȝefe ȝe þin sunful efenling. |
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 29. Þanne beð þe synne forgiuen.
13[?]. Cursor M., 25109 (Cott. Gatba).
| And lord forgiff þou dettes ours, | |
| Als we fo[r]giff till oure detoures. |
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 11581. All hir gilt to forgiff, and to grace take.
1503. Kalender of Sheph., Pater Noster, Forghewe the fawlys doyeng ageyns them.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., IV. i. 26. Forgiue a moytie of the principall.
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., III. xlii. 274. An Authority to Forgive, or Retain Sins.
1781. Burns, Why am I loth, ii.
| Fain would I say, ‘Forgive my foul offence!’ | |
| Fain promise never more to disobey; | |
| But, should my Author health again dispense, | |
| Again I might desert fair virtue’s way. |
1855. Tennyson, Maud, II. iv. xii.
| Should I fear to greet my friend | |
| Or to say ‘Forgive the wrong,’ | |
| Or to ask her, ‘Take me, sweet, | |
| To the regions of thy rest’? |
1882. W. Bence Jones, Landowning as a Business, in 19th Cent., XI. March, 348 The amount of rent that has been forgiven in the past two years has been very large.
b. with the thing in the acc., and the person in the dat., or preceded by † til, to, unto (or as subj. of vb. in pass.).
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. vi. 12. And forgyf us ure gyltas, sva sva ve forgifað urum gyltendum.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 37. Ne mei þe preost fonȝefen nane men his sunne.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19019 (Edin.).
| Giu sal forgiuin be giur sak, | |
| Þe gifte of hali gaste to take. | |
| Ibid., 25109 (Cott.). | |
| Forgiue þou til us dettes vrs, | |
| Als we forgiue til vr detours. |
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 2568.
| Forȝeuen hem was her wo, | |
| No were þai neuer so dere. |
1382. Wyclif, Matt. xviii. 27. Sothely the lord of that seruaunt hauynge mercy, leete hym, and forȝaue to hym the dette.
c. 1430. Hymns Virg. (1867), 128.
| He that shulde his dethe be, | |
| He kneled downe vppon his kne: | |
| ‘Lord, your deth, forgyffe it me, | |
| Fulle hertly here to yowe I pray’; hay! |
1503–4. Act 19 Hen. VII., c. 37. Preamb. It pleased your Hignnesse … to forgyve unto your seid Subgiect all the seid Mesprisions.
1611. Bible, Isa. xxxiii. 24. The people that dwel therein shalbe forgiuen their iniquitie.
1665. Walton, Life Hooker, H.’s Wks. 1888, I. 39. Giving him [Whitgift] the Bishopric of Worcester, and (which was not with her [the Queen’s] usual favour) forgiving him his first fruits.
1726–31. Tindal, Rabin’s Hist. Eng. (1743), II. XVII. 153. When he [Essex] was yet but one and twenty years old, she [Queen Elizabeth] forgave him what she had lent his Father, for his Expedition into Ireland.
1782. Cowper, Charity, 634.
| Let Charity forgive me a mistake, | |
| That zeal, not vanity, has chanced to make, | |
| And spare the poet for his subject’s sake. |
1826. T. Moore, Mem. (1854) V. 46. Clonmell never forgave this to Grattan.
c. with indirect (personal) obj. only, either in dative (a construction now merged in 4), or † preceded by to, till, unto.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xviii. 21. Mot ic him forgyfan oð seofon siþas.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 39. Þu scalt forȝeuen þon monne þa wið þe agultet.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, vi. 1. Forgifynge til him þat synnes in vs.
1382. Wyclif, Matt. vi. 12. And forȝeue to vs oure dettis, as we forȝeue to oure dettours.
1484. Caxton, Fables of Æsop, I. xviii. The myghte and puyssant must pardonne and forgyue to the lytyll and feble, and ought to kepe hym from al euylle.
4. To give up resentment against, pardon (an offender). Const. for, † of, or dependent clause, rarely † to with inf. Also (now rarely) to abandon one’s claim against (a debtor).
[c. 1000, c. 1175: see 3 c]
c. 1200. Ormin, 4963.
| All to forrȝifenn oþre menn | |
| Wiþþ word & ec wiþþ herrte. |
c. 1340. Cursor Mundi, 8396 (Fairf.). Ȝe ar for-giuen of þat vn-riȝt.
c. 1450. Mirour Saluacioun, 91.
| How yt crist forgaf mavdelen marie | |
| And forgiffes synners all. |
1591. Shaks., Two Gent., II. iv. 172.
| Forgiue me that I doe not dreame on thee, | |
| Because thou seest me doste vpon my loue. |
1607. Wilkins, Miseries Inforst Marr., II. D j. I do forgiue thee with my hart.
1715. De Foe, Fam. Instruct., I. i. (1841), I. 20. Upon their repentance, he forgives them for the sake of Jesus Christ, and is reconciled to them, as though they had not sinned against him.
1742. Richardson, Pamela, III. 387. So honestly descended, so modest in Appearance, and an Example so much better—forgive me to say—before her.
1785. Burns, 1st Epit. Lapraik, xvii.
| There’s ae wee faut they whiles lay to me, | |
| I like the lasses—-Gude forgie me! |
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, xxi. Forgive me if I remind you, that we must hear the matter between the citizens of Perth and Ramorny, about the death of a townsman.
1866. G. Macdonald, Ann. Q. Neighb., xxii. (1878), 403. He asks you to forgive the man who wronged you, and you will not—not even for Him!
5. absol. (of 3 and 4, which in this use coincide).
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Luke vi. 37. Forgyfaþ & eow byð forgyfen.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., VI. v. (1495), 192. Chyldren ben sone playsyd and lyghtly they forgyue.
1611. Bible, 1 Kings viii. 30. And when thou hearest, forgiue.
1709. Pope, Ess. Crit., 525. To err is human, to forgive, divine.
1841. Trench, Parables, xxiv. (1877), 411. Though God may forgive, man is not therefore to forget.
6. To make excuse or apology for, regard indulgently. Now only in imper. as an entreaty.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 955.
| That on my head all might be visited, | |
| Thy frailtie and infirmer Sex forgiv’n, | |
| To me committed and by me expos’d. |
1738. Pope, Epil. Sat., I. 63.
| P. Dear Sir, forgive the Prejudice of Youth: | |
| Adieu Distinction, Satire, Warmth, and Truth! |
1782. Cowper, Truth, 581.
| Cleansed in thine own all purifying blood, | |
| Forgive their evil, and accept their good. |
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., Prol. xi.
| Forgive these wild and wandering cries, | |
| Confusions of a wasted youth; | |
| Forgive them where they fail in truth, | |
| And in thy wisdom make me wise. |
† 7. = MISGIVE. (So also GIVE). Obs. rare.
1600. Holland, Livy, 754. Anniball, whose mind forgave him that such a thing would fall out, had prepared shipping.
8. dial. (See quots.)
1790. Grose, Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2), s.v., Forgive.… To thaw. Norf.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, Forgive, to begin to thaw. By no means an inexpressive metaphor.
