Dictionary

amnesty en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈæm.nɪ.sti/

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French amnestie (Modern French amnistie), a borrowing from Latin amnestia, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία (amnēstía).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Forgetfulness; cessation of remembrance of wrong; oblivion.
2. (countable, uncountable) An act of the sovereign power granting oblivion, or a general pardon, for a past offense, as to subjects concerned in an insurrection.
   • He said building amnesties were “a huge issue.” 2023 February 11, Christian Edwards and Lauren Said-Moorhouse, “Quake-hit Turkey and Syria face years of rebuilding. Experts say it didn’t have to be this way”, in CNN, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2023:
   • Russian lawmakers backed a sweeping amnesty law Wednesday that could see jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk protest band released early and arrested Greenpeace activists avoiding prison, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported. 2013 December 18, CNN Staff, “Russia amnesty could free Pussy Riot, benefit Greenpeace members”, in CNN, archived from the original on 07 Mar 2021:
   • Argentina has seen few legal issues as contentiously debated as these two laws of amnesty during the last two decades. […] Pursuant to the Convention on Forced Disappearance, amnesties may not contemplate a statutory limitation period less than that corresponding to the gravest crime punishable by domestic laws, provided there is a pre-existing domestic norm of “fundamental character” requiring that limitation. Fall 2007, Gaspar Forteza, “Regarding Simón y otros: Accountability in Argentina and International Human Rights as Domestic Positive Law”, in FIU Law Review, volume 3, number 1, →ISSN, archived from the original on 03 Jul 2020, pages 188, 217-218:

Forms

Deriveds

Amnesty International · amnestiable · amnestic

Relateds

amnesia

Translations (93)

sv amnesti (act of the sovereign power) · bg забра́ва (forgetfulness) · ca amnistia (act of the sovereign power) · hu amnesztia (act of the sovereign power) · sh amnèstija (act of the sovereign power) · hu közkegyelem (act of the sovereign power) · sl amnestija (act of the sovereign power) · ky амнистия (act of the sovereign power) · fr amnistie (forgetfulness) · uz afv etish (act of the sovereign power) · th นิรโทษกรรม (act of the sovereign power) · ja 大赦 (act of the sovereign power) · ota عفو (act of the sovereign power) · ja 恩赦 (act of the sovereign power) · cmn 大赦 (act of the sovereign power) · cs zapomnětlivost (forgetfulness) · et amnestia (act of the sovereign power) · gag amnistiya (act of the sovereign power) · lo ນິລະໂທດກຳ (act of the sovereign power) · pl amnestia (act of the sovereign power) · ja 赦免 (act of the sovereign power) · it amnistia (act of the sovereign power) · ro amnistie (act of the sovereign power) · sh zaborávnōst (forgetfulness) · es amnestía (act of the sovereign power) · de Amnestie (act of the sovereign power) · cmn 恩赦 (act of the sovereign power) · ko 은사 (act of the sovereign power) · fa فراموشی (forgetfulness) · hy համաներում (act of the sovereign power) · ar عَفْو (act of the sovereign power) · uz amnistiya (act of the sovereign power) · az amnistiya (act of the sovereign power) · ja 特赦 (act of the sovereign power) · km និទ្ទោសកម្ម (act of the sovereign power) · tg авф (act of the sovereign power) · bg амни́стия (act of the sovereign power) · da amnesti (act of the sovereign power) · ko 특사 (act of the sovereign power) · be памі́лаваньне (act of the sovereign power) · ga maithiúnas (act of the sovereign power) · mk амнестија (act of the sovereign power) · pt anistia (act of the sovereign power) · tk amnistiýa (act of the sovereign power) · cs amnestie (act of the sovereign power) · nb amnesti (act of the sovereign power) · fa-ira عَفْو (act of the sovereign power) · cy amnest (act of the sovereign power) · eo amnestio (act of the sovereign power) · es amnistía (act of the sovereign power) · uk амні́стія (act of the sovereign power) · hu kegyelem (act of the sovereign power) · nl vergetelheid (forgetfulness) · be амні́стыя (act of the sovereign power) · ur عام مُعَافی (act of the sovereign power) · kk амнистия (act of the sovereign power) · mn өршөөл (act of the sovereign power) · ms pengampunan (act of the sovereign power) · ru поми́лование (act of the sovereign power) · kmr efû (act of the sovereign power) · pt amnistia (act of the sovereign power) · nb abolisjon (act of the sovereign power) · fr amnistie (act of the sovereign power) · nl amnestie (act of the sovereign power) · be памі́лаванне (act of the sovereign power) · sh забора́вно̄ст (forgetfulness) · tr af (act of the sovereign power) · la oblīviō (forgetfulness) · bg поми́лване (act of the sovereign power) · sh амнѐстија (act of the sovereign power) · hy ամնիստիա (act of the sovereign power) · nl vergeetachtigheid (forgetfulness) · pl niepamięć (forgetfulness) · sk amnestia (act of the sovereign power) · hi आम माफ़ी (act of the sovereign power) · ko 사면 (act of the sovereign power) · vi sự ân xá (act of the sovereign power) · ps عفو (act of the sovereign power) · uz afv (act of the sovereign power) · vo stiam (act of the sovereign power) · bn ক্ষমা (act of the sovereign power) · ru амни́стия (act of the sovereign power) · fi armahdus (act of the sovereign power) · ur عَفْو (act of the sovereign power) · ru забы́вчивость (forgetfulness) · lt amnestija (act of the sovereign power) · ur مُعَافی (act of the sovereign power) · el αμνηστία (act of the sovereign power) · my လွတ်ငြိမ်းချမ်းသာခွင့် (act of the sovereign power) · sq amnisti (act of the sovereign power) · ka ამნისტია (act of the sovereign power) · uk поми́лування (act of the sovereign power) · lv amnestija (act of the sovereign power)

amnesty en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈæm.nɪ.sti/

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French amnestie (Modern French amnistie), a borrowing from Latin amnestia, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία (amnēstía).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To grant a pardon (to a group).
   • “This is such immoral selectivity,” he added. “Anyone who amnesties Russia and who artificially creates a such informational context where some attacks by terrorists are supposedly justified or supposedly understandable cannot fail to understand that, in doing so, they are helping the terrorists.” 2022 August 8, Radina Gigova, quoting Volodymyr Zelenskyy, “Amnesty regrets ‘distress’ caused by report on Ukrainian military, but stands by findings”, in CNN, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2022:
   • Shortly after the end of military rule in 1983, the Argentinean National Congress passed legislation that effectively amnestied many persons who allegedly committed human rights violations such as torture, extra-judicial killing, and forced disappearance. […] In other words, a government may be justified in amnestying military actions because the alternative would result in the destruction of the democratic state. Fall 2007, Gaspar Forteza, “Regarding Simón y otros: Accountability in Argentina and International Human Rights as Domestic Positive Law”, in FIU Law Review, volume 3, number 1, →ISSN, archived from the original on 03 Jul 2020, pages 187, 229:
   • “The number of people that will be amnestied when I’m president is zero,” DeSantis said, when asked if he would allow any of the 10 million to stay in the US. 2024 January 11, Zachary B. Wolf, quoting Ron DeSantis, “The 2024 primary campaigns have already changed the Republican Party”, in CNN, archived from the original on 12 Mar 2024:
   • “100 miles of border wall in exchange for amnestying millions of illegals. So if we grant citizenship to a BILLION foreigners, maybe we can finally get a full border wall,” Coulter wrote in another tweet. 2019 January 19, Stephen Collinson and Maegan Vazquez, quoting Ann Coulter, “Trump’s offer of temporary protection for immigrants to end shutdown is a ‘non-starter,’ say Democrats”, in CNN, archived from the original on 08 Nov 2020:

Forms

Translations (16)

hu amnesztiát ad (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · pt anistiar (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · fr amnistier (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · pl amnestionować (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · pl amnestiować (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · fi armahtaa (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · es amnistiar (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · cs amnestovat (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · eo amnestii (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · cmn 大赦 (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · hu amnesztiában részesít (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · th นิรโทษกรรม (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · hu megkegyelmez (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · bg помилвам (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · it amnistiare (to grant a pardon (to a group)) · pt amnistiar (to grant a pardon (to a group))