ignosco

Latin

Etymology

From in- (“after”) +‎ (g)nōscō (“to get to know”). The meaning developed from “subsequently realise” to “acknowledge” to “forgive”.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪŋˈnoːs.koː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [iɲˈɲɔs.ko]

Verb

ignōscō (present infinitive ignōscere, perfect active ignōvī, supine ignōtum); third conjugation

to forgive, pardon, excuse, overlook, to take no notice of (with dative)
Synonyms: parcō, remittō, āmittō, dōnō, dīmittō, perdōnō, condōnō
- 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 675–678:
  DĀVUS: Ego, Pamphile, hōc tibi prō servitiō dēbeō: / cōnārī — manibus pedibus noctēsque et diēs! — / capitis perīclum adīre, dum prōsim tibi! / Tuum est sī quid praeter spem ēvenit mihi ignōscere.
  DAVUS: Pamphilus, this is my duty to you, in my servitude: to try — with hands and feet, night and day! — to face the risk of my own life, as long as I may be of service to you! Yours is to pardon me if what happens is not what [we] wanted.
  (In context, Davus comically overstates his services in order to oblige the mercy of Pamphilus.)
- c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.12:
  [...] quō ex oppidō cum lēgātī ad eum vēnissent ōrātum ut sibi ignōsceret suaeque vītae cōnsuleret [...]
  [...] when envoys had come to him from that town to beg that he himself would forgive them and spare their lives [...]
- 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.443–444:
  haurit aquās tollēnsque manūs, ‘ignōscite,’ dīxit
  ‘sacra! vir intrābō nōn adeundā virō.’
  He draws water, and lifting up his hands, says: “Forgive [me], sacred things! A man, I shall enter [a place which] ought not be approached by a man.”
  (The Temple of Vesta afire, Lucius Caecilius Metellus (consul 251 BC) begs forgiveness from Vesta (mythology) prior to saving items from the flames.)

Usage notes

Takes the dative form of the person forgiven; in archaic Latin, can take the accusative.

Conjugation

Passive forms are not known except for the third-person singular.

Conjugation of ignōscō (third conjugation)

indicative		singular				plural
indicative		first	second		third	first	second		third
active	present	ignōscō	ignōscis		ignōscit	ignōscimus	ignōscitis		ignōscunt
	imperfect	ignōscēbam	ignōscēbās		ignōscēbat	ignōscēbāmus	ignōscēbātis		ignōscēbant
	future	ignōscam	ignōscēs		ignōscet	ignōscēmus	ignōscētis		ignōscent
	perfect	ignōvī	ignōvistī, ignōstī¹		ignōvit, ignōt¹	ignōvimus, ignōmus¹	ignōvistis, ignōstis¹		ignōvērunt, ignōrunt, ignōvēre¹
	pluperfect	ignōveram, ignōram¹	ignōverās, ignōrās¹		ignōverat, ignōrat¹	ignōverāmus, ignōrāmus¹	ignōverātis, ignōrātis¹		ignōverant, ignōrant¹
	future perfect	ignōverō, ignōrō¹	ignōveris, ignōris¹		ignōverit, ignōrit¹	ignōverimus, ignōrimus¹	ignōveritis, ignōritis¹		ignōverint, ignōrint¹
passive	present	ignōscor	ignōsceris, ignōscere		ignōscitur	ignōscimur	ignōsciminī		ignōscuntur
	imperfect	ignōscēbar	ignōscēbāris, ignōscēbāre		ignōscēbātur	ignōscēbāmur	ignōscēbāminī		ignōscēbantur
	future	ignōscar	ignōscēris, ignōscēre		ignōscētur	ignōscēmur	ignōscēminī		ignōscentur
	perfect	ignōtus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	ignōtus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	ignōtus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular				plural
subjunctive		first	second		third	first	second		third
active	present	ignōscam	ignōscās		ignōscat	ignōscāmus	ignōscātis		ignōscant
	imperfect	ignōscerem	ignōscerēs		ignōsceret	ignōscerēmus	ignōscerētis		ignōscerent
	perfect	ignōverim, ignōrim¹	ignōverīs, ignōrīs¹		ignōverit, ignōrit¹	ignōverīmus, ignōrīmus¹	ignōverītis, ignōrītis¹		ignōverint, ignōrint¹
	pluperfect	ignōvissem, ignōssem¹	ignōvissēs, ignōssēs¹		ignōvisset, ignōsset¹	ignōvissēmus, ignōssēmus¹	ignōvissētis, ignōssētis¹		ignōvissent, ignōssent¹
passive	present	ignōscar	ignōscāris, ignōscāre		ignōscātur	ignōscāmur	ignōscāminī		ignōscantur
	imperfect	ignōscerer	ignōscerēris, ignōscerēre		ignōscerētur	ignōscerēmur	ignōscerēminī		ignōscerentur
	perfect	ignōtus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	ignōtus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular				plural
imperative		first	second		third	first	second		third
active	present	—	ignōsce		—	—	ignōscite		—
active	future	—	ignōscitō		ignōscitō	—	ignōscitōte		ignōscuntō
passive	present	—	ignōscere		—	—	ignōsciminī		—
passive	future	—	ignōscitor		ignōscitor	—	—		ignōscuntor
non-finite forms		infinitive				participle
non-finite forms		active		passive		active		passive
present		ignōscere		ignōscī		ignōscēns		—
future		ignōtūrum esse		ignōtum īrī		ignōtūrus		ignōscendus, ignōscundus
perfect		ignōvisse, ignōsse¹		ignōtum esse		—		ignōtus
future perfect		—		ignōtum fore		—		—
perfect potential		ignōtūrum fuisse		—		—		—
verbal nouns		gerund					supine
		genitive	dative		accusative	ablative	accusative		ablative
		ignōscendī	ignōscendō		ignōscendum	ignōscendō	ignōtum		ignōtū

¹The verb "nōscō" and its compounds frequently drop the syllables "vi" and "ve" from their perfect, pluperfect and future perfect conjugations.

Descendants

Italian: ignoscere (archaic)
Spanish: iñocer (archaic)

References

^ Dunkel, George E. (2014) Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme [Lexicon of Indo-European Particles and Pronominal Stems] (in German), volume 2: Lexikon, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, →ISBN, page 242