(v. t.) The act of pardoning; forgiveness, as of an offender, or of an offense; release from penalty; remission of punishment; absolution.
(v. t.) An official warrant of remission of penalty.
(v. t.) The state of being forgiven.
(v. t.) A release, by a sovereign, or officer having jurisdiction, from the penalties of an offense, being distinguished from amenesty, which is a general obliteration and canceling of a particular line of past offenses.
(v. t.) To absolve from the consequences of a fault or the punishment of crime; to free from penalty; -- applied to the offender.
(v. t.) To remit the penalty of; to suffer to pass without punishment; to forgive; -- applied to offenses.