perdonar

Forms

perdonar (first-person singular present perdono, first-person singular preterite perdoné, past participle perdonado)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin perdono (“to forgive”); the Old Spanish form was already perdonar.^[2][3][1] The verb was formed from Latin per- + dono (“to give”), with an intensive prefix; dono is from donum (“gift”).^[3][4][5] It is first recorded between 350 and 500, once, in the Latin Aesop of Romulus.^[1][6] Wiktionary notes that it may have been calqued as Proto-Germanic *fragebaną, or the other way round.^[1] In Romance it took the place of classical parco.^[7] Medieval Latin used it for granting a favour, sparing a life, remitting a penalty or a debt, and pardoning an offence.^[8]

The same word is Portuguese perdoar, Galician perdoar, Asturian perdonar, Catalan perdonar, Occitan perdonar, French pardonner and Italian perdonare.^[9][10][1] Corominas treats it with donar, which he considers perhaps an old semi-learned word.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy), where the King forgives the hero: „Aquí vos perdono e dovos mi amor” “here I forgive you and give you my favour”.^[12][13][2]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb was used of God forgiving sins and of a lord or judge remitting a punishment or a debt: Berceo writes „perdónetelos Christo”, and Alfonso X's prose has it for remitting a debt, an offence or an obligation.^[12][14] Perdonar la vida “to spare someone's life” is in the Quijote.^[15]

The Diccionario de Autoridades added the senses “to exempt someone from what is done to all” and “to leave something undone”, quoting Góngora's hut that the war „lo perdonó por pobre” “spared it for being poor”, and its use as a polite way of asking leave.^[16] The Academy's 1817 dictionary noted its use for turning beggars away without alms,^[17] and the 1884 edition its use with no for “not to miss”, as in no perdonar ocasión.^[18]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has perdono.^[12][2]
• c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar has „a todo el lugar perdonaré”.^[12]
• c. 1236 – Berceo's Vida de Santo Domingo de Silos has perdónetelos.^[12]
• 1254 – the Judizios de las estrellas use it for a lord forgiving a vassal.^[14]
• 1513 – Nebrija gives Latin parco, remitto and condono.^[19]
• 1535 – first record from the Americas, in Tierra Firme.^[20]
• 1611 – Covarrubias defines it as remitting a debt or an injury.^[21]
• 1737 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the senses “to exempt” and “to spare”.^[16]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from per and donare.^[18]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To forgive or pardon a debt, offence, fault or crime, or the person who committed it.^[3][1]
2. (transitive) To exempt someone from what is done to everyone, or from an obligation: Le perdonaron el examen.^[3]
3. (transitive) To forgo or do without something; with no, not to miss it: No perdona una fiesta.^[3]
4. (transitive) To give up a right or an enjoyment.^[3]
5. (transitive) To excuse, in polite formulas: Perdone, ¿sabe dónde está la estación?^[1][22]

Word family

• perdón
• perdonable
• imperdonable
• perdonador
• perdonanza
• perdonavidas

Related words

• donar
• don
• dar
• condonar
• Latin perdono
• French pardonner

Usage notes

The phrase perdonar hecho y por hacer describes excessive indulgence.^[3] The derived noun is perdón, recorded as early as the verb.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. donar
3. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. perdonar
4. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. perdonar
5. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. perdonar
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. pardonner
7. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. perdonar
8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. perdonare
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. perdonare
11. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 414
12. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. perdonar
13. ^ Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. perdonar
14. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. perdonar
15. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. s.v. perdonar
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 217
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 661
18. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 815
19. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 396
20. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. perdonar
21. ^ Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1206
22. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. perdonar