Etymograph

English

pardon

Pardon comes from Old French pardoner ‘to pardon’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *per-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*peri-1reconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEperdōnāre2
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pardoner2‘to pardon’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pardonen2
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598pardon2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin per-
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pardon
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*per-Wiktionary, Latin per-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*peri-Wiktionary, Latin per-reconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEperdōnāreWiktionary, English pardon
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pardonerWiktionary, English pardon‘to pardon’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pardonenWiktionary, English pardon
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598pardonWiktionary, English pardon. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.”

The story

From Middle English pardonen, from Old French pardoner (modern French pardonner), from Late Latin perdōnāre, from per- + dōnāre, possibly a calque (if not vice-versa) of a Germanic word represented by Frankish *firgeban (‘to forgive, give up completely’), from *fir- + *geban.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *per-

first, before, support, per, report, further, price, private, press, far, practice, opportunity, pre, prior, prime, appreciate, port, primary, fear, prize, pregnant, practical, forth, afford, precious, praise, ford, privilege, interpretation, ferry, pirate, porch, primitive, prix, parade, fare, interpreter, pragmatic, par, privy, 156 more

Today it means

noun Forgiveness for an offence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pardon”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin per-. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *per- / pardon

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