perdonare

Forms

perdonare (first-person singular present perdóno, first-person singular past historic perdonài, past participle perdonàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin perdōnāre (“to grant; to forgive”), a verb recorded in Medieval Latin from the 10th century.^[2][1][3][4] It was formed from dōnō (“to give as a gift”) with the prefix per-;^[5][6][7][8] DELI, GRADIT, Devoto–Oli and GDLI describe it as the classical condōnō (“to give up, remit”) with a change of prefix, spread by the Church in its place.^[5][6][7][8] Devoto read the prefix as intensive, “to make a gift above all”.^[4][9] DEI and GDLI note that the verb belongs to Italy and the western Romance languages: it is French pardonner (recorded in 980), Occitan perdonar, Catalan perdonar, Spanish perdonar and Portuguese perdoar, and also Sardinian and Engadine.^{[3][8][2][10]}

The Latin verb is derived from dōnum (“gift”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃-no- or Proto-Indo-European *doh₃-no-.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the verb to before 1226.^[6][12] DELI's first record is Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250, for absolving someone of a fault, and the sense “to excuse” follows at the end of the 13th century in the Novellino.^[5] A poem of the Sicilian school ends “per che s'io fallo, il mio perdoni Amore”, “so if I fail, may Love forgive me”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

DEI records an old use for making a gift of interest already paid.^[3] The noun perdono (13th century) took on the Church's sense, the remission of sins granted to those who visit certain shrines, and the shrine where it is granted (1300); the sense “excuse, apology” is in Tasso, before 1595.^[5] Perdonanza is in Jacopone.^[3] Perdonabile appears before 1729, but imperdonabile is older, from 1620.^[5][2]

In Dante's line “Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona” the verb means “to spare, to exempt”: love excuses no one who is loved from loving in return.^[9] The intransitive non perdona is said of a hard person or of a fatal illness.^[13][14] Politeness formulas use the verb for “excuse me”: mi perdoni.^[6][14] A proverb runs alla prima si perdona, alla seconda si bastona, “the first time you forgive, the second you beat”.^[14]

Timeline

• 980 – French pardonner is recorded.^[8]
• Before 1226 – Italian perdonare is recorded.^[6][12]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses it for absolving a fault.^[5]
• 13th century – The noun perdono is recorded.^[5]
• End of the 13th century – The Novellino uses it for “to excuse”.^[5]
• 1300 – Perdono is used for a Church indulgence.^[5]
• 1620 – Imperdonabile is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To forgive (an offence, or a person for it), giving up resentment: Le ha perdonato la bugia. Non perdonarla a qualcuno is to bear a grudge.^[6][7][15]
2. To pardon, to give up punishing someone: Lo perdonarono per quello che aveva fatto.^[6][7]
3. (religion) To remit sins.^[6][15][14]
4. To be indulgent towards, to overlook: Gli perdonano tutto perché è il più piccolo.^[6][7][15]
5. (in polite formulas) To excuse: Perdoni, sa dov'è la stazione?^[6][15][14]
6. (intransitive, usually negative) To spare, to show mercy: Il tempo non perdona.^[6][13][14]

Word family

• perdono
• perdonabile
• imperdonabile
• perdonanza

Related words

• donare
• condonare
• dono
• Latin dōnō
• French pardonner

Usage notes

The verb takes a direct object for the person (perdonare qualcuno) or for the offence with a for the person (perdonare qualcosa a qualcuno); the intransitive use takes avere.^[7][13]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2848
4. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
15. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse