pardoner

American  

[pahr-dn-er] / ˈpɑr dn ər /

noun

1. a person who pardons.

2. (during the Middle Ages) an ecclesiastical official authorized to sell indulgences.

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pardoner British  

/ ˈpɑːdənə /

noun

1. (before the Reformation) a person licensed to sell ecclesiastical indulgences

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Etymology

Origin of pardoner

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; pardon, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Another survivor, the writer Jean Améry, mistaking comprehension for concession, disapprovingly called Levi “the pardoner,” though Levi repeatedly argued that he was interested in justice, not in indiscriminate forgiveness.

From The New Yorker

In pursuit of spiritual purity, but largely unable to resist the occasional temptation, the desperate populace turned to "pardoners" to cleanse them of their sins.

From The Guardian

He next succeeded in obtaining the patronage of a pardoner who travelled from place to place selling indulgences and relics.

From Project Gutenberg

A doctor of physic, a cook, a poor parson, a ploughman, a reeve, or estate agent, a manciple, and two disgraceful characters—a summoner and a pardoner—make up the total of the company.

From Project Gutenberg

Shipmen and pilgrims, pardoners and messengers, crowd into the house with boxes crammed with marvellous stories.

From Project Gutenberg