perdonar

Forms

perdonar (first-person singular present perdono, first-person singular preterite perdoní, past participle perdonat); root stress: (Northern) /u/, (Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia) /o/^[1] In the Middle Ages the first person singular of the present was perdó, a form still recorded in Mallorca about 1848.^[2] The DCVB records the pronunciations [pəɾðuná], [pəɾðoná], [peɾðoná] and [peɾðonáɾ].^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin perdōnō (“to give up entirely; to forgive”), recorded in the Latin Aesop and continued in all the Romance languages of the West.^[2][3][4][1] The GDLC explains it as “to give wholly”, and Wiktionary as formed from per- and dōnō (“to give”), attested between 350 and 500 CE.^[4][1] The DCVB notes that it replaced the classical synonym parcō (“to spare”).^[3] Wiktionary adds that it may be the model of Proto-Germanic *fragebaną, or a calque of it.^[1] In Catalan it belongs to the family of donar, under which Coromines and Bruguera treat it.^[2][5]

The same Latin verb is Italian perdonare, French pardonner, Occitan perdonar, Spanish perdonar and Portuguese perdoar.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Homilies d'Organyà, of the 12th century: every sinner who leaves sin and bad works and takes his penance firmly has all his sin forgiven, sempre li és perdonad tot som pecad.^[2][4][3] The sense is already the religious “to forgive (a sin)”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages the verb was almost always intransitive, with the person forgiven in the dative (perdonà-li), as in French and Occitan: so in Desclot, Jaume I and Llull.^[2] The modern transitive construction appears now and then in Sant Vicent Ferrer.^[2] Llull already has the noun perdó; other derivatives are perdonança, perdonable and perdonador.^[2]

Labèrnia defines the verb as remitting a debt or an injury and as exempting someone from an obligation.^[7] Fabra also gives the polite sense “to excuse”, which the DIEC2 keeps.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 12th century – first record, in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[4][2]
• 1200–1249 – the Usatges de Barcelona.^[10]
• 13th century – Jaume I and Llull use it with the dative of the person.^[2]
• 1440 – Curial e Güelfa: Christ, who forgave his death.^[11]
• 1461 – the Dietaris de la Generalitat record a pardon granted by the heir to the throne.^[11]
• 1839 – Labèrnia lists it.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pardon: to let (a fault) go unpunished.^[9][4][1]
2. To forgive (an offence): to bear no ill will for it: Mai no li va perdonar aquella mentida.^[9][4][3]
3. To exempt someone from an obligation or a debt; to spare: perdonar la vida a algú.^[9][4][3]
4. To excuse: Perdona, saps on és l'estació?^[9][4][1]
5. To absolve someone of a crime and its punishment.^[4]

Word family

• perdó
• perdonable
• perdonador
• perdonança

Related words

• donar
• Latin dōnō
• Occitan perdonar

Usage notes

The DIEC2 records no perdonar ni penes ni fatigues, not to spare any effort, and notes that la mort no perdona ningú.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 3, 23
3. ^ a b c d e f Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. perdonar
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. perdonar
5. ^ Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 268
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6405
7. ^ a b Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. perdonar
8. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. perdonar
9. ^ a b c d e f Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. perdonar
10. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. perdonar
11. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. perdonar