Etymologically
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amnesty

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈæm.nɪ.sti/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French amnestie,[2][3][4][5] from Latin amnēstia,[6][2][3][5] from Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία (amnēstía, “forgetfulness, oblivion; amnesty”),[6][2][3][7] from ἀμνηστός (amnēstos, “forgotten”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) and μνάομαι (mnáomai, “I remember”),[6][3][7][5] from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”).[3][6] It shares its root with amnesia.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A general pardon of past offences by the ruling authority, an “act of oblivion” (1580 in the OED and Merriam-Webster; 1570s in Etymonline; 1605 in Barnhart).[9][7][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The Greek word meant forgetfulness, especially of wrong, as well as an amnesty,[3][10] and in early English use the word also meant forgetfulness or intentional overlooking (1592).[9][2][8] It is usually used of pardons for a class of offences against a government.[3][11] The verb is from 1809.[9][3] Amnesty International, founded in 1961, campaigns for prisoners of conscience.[9] In modern use an amnesty is also a period during which offenders may admit an offence, or hand in illegal items, without penalty.[12]

Timeline

  • 1580 – a general pardon.[9][7]
  • 1592 – forgetfulness, oblivion (obsolete).[9]
  • 1809 – verb, to grant an amnesty to.[9][3]
  • 1961 – Amnesty International.[9]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A general pardon granted by a government, especially for political offences, often before any trial or conviction.
  2. A period during which offenders may admit an offence without fear of prosecution.
  3. (archaic) The voluntary overlooking of an offence.

Verb

  1. To grant an amnesty to; to pardon.

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins