condone

English

Etymology

From Latin condōno (“I forgive”), from con- (“together”) + dōnō (“I give”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈdoʊn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈdəʊn/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -əʊn
• Hyphenation: con‧done

Verb

condone (third-person singular simple present condones, present participle condoning, simple past and past participle condoned)

1. (transitive) To forgive, excuse or overlook (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]?  Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?

2. (transitive) To allow, accept or permit (something that is considered morally wrong, offensive, or generally disliked).
   • 2001, Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy, Oxford University Press, page 29:

     Rule-utilitarianism is unlikely to condone torturing a child, but it does imply that the torturing of a child is less evil if the torturer shares his pleasure with other sadists-perhaps by inviting an audience, or broadcasting it on the Internet.

3. (transitive, law) To forgive (marital infidelity or other marital offense).

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• endocon

Spanish

Verb

condone

1. inflection of condonar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative