amnesty

[ am-nuh-stee ]
See synonyms for: amnestyamnestiedamnestying on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural am·nes·ties.
  1. a general pardon for offenses, especially political offenses, against a government, often granted before any trial or conviction.

  2. Law. an act of forgiveness for past offenses, especially to a class of persons as a whole.

  1. a forgetting or overlooking of any past offense.

verb (used with object),am·nes·tied, am·nes·ty·ing.
  1. to grant amnesty to; pardon.

Origin of amnesty

1
First recorded in 1570–80; from Middle French amnestie, or directly from Latin amnēstia, from Greek amnēstía “oblivion,” equivalent to ámnēst(os) “forgetting” (from a- negative prefix + mnēs- “remember” + -tos verbal adjective suffix) + -ia noun suffix; see a-6, -y3

synonym study For amnesty

1. See pardon.

Words Nearby amnesty

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use amnesty in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for amnesty

amnesty

/ (ˈæmnɪstɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. a general pardon, esp for offences against a government

  2. a period during which a law is suspended to allow offenders to admit their crime without fear of prosecution

  1. law a pardon granted by the Crown or Executive and effected by statute

verb-ties, -tying or -tied
  1. (tr) to overlook or forget (an offence)

Origin of amnesty

1
C16: from Latin amnēstia, from Greek: oblivion, from amnēstos forgetting, from a- 1 + -mnēstos, from mnasthai to remember

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