amnesty
/ˈæm.nɪ.sti/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms amnesties amnestying amnestied
- noun Forgetfulness; cessation of remembrance of wrong; oblivion.
- noun An act of the sovereign power granting oblivion, or a general pardon, for a past offense, as to subjects concerned in an insurrection.
- verb (transitive) To grant a pardon (to a group).
- proper noun Amnesty International, a UK-based charity.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French amnestie (Modern French amnistie), a borrowing from Latin amnestia, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία (amnēstía).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Forgetfulness; cessation of remembrance of wrong; oblivion.
- noun An act of the sovereign power granting oblivion, or a general pardon, for a past offense, as to subjects concerned in an insurrection.
- verb To grant amnesty to.
Etymology [L. amnestia, Gr. amnistie, earlier amnestie. See Mean, v.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “amnesty”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details