English

Noun

pardoner ‎(plural pardoners)

1. One who pardons.
2. (historical) In medieval Catholicism, a person licensed to grant papal pardons or indulgences.
   • c. 1390: Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (Prologue)

     With him there rode a gentle pardonere / Of Ronceval, his friend and his compere, / That straight was comen from the court of Rome.

   • 1820, Sir Walter Scott, The Abbot

     ... old men, cheated by their wives and daughters, pillaged by their sons, and imposed on by their domestics, a braggadocia captain, a knavish pardoner or quaestionary, a country bumpkin and a wanton city dame.

   • 1917, Catholic Encyclopedia, "Collections"

     These grants of Indulgence were often entrusted to preachers of note ("Pardoners") who carried them from town to town, collecting money and using their eloquence to recommend the good work in question and to enhance the spiritual privileges attached to it.

Old French

Alternative forms

• parduner (Anglo-Norman)
• perdoner (10th century)

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *perdonāre, from Latin per- + donāre, a loan-translation of a Germanic word represented by Frankish *firgeban ‎(“to forgive, give up completely”), from fir- + geban. Akin to Old High German fargeban, firgeban ‎(“to forgive”), Old English forġiefan ‎(“to forgive”). More at forgive.

Verb

pardoner

1. to pardon; to forgive

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Descendants

• English: pardon (borrowed)
• French: pardonner