Literally 'to give away' — a calque of Latin 'perdōnāre,' making 'forgive' and 'pardon' the same metaphor in two languages.
To stop feeling angry or resentful towards someone for an offence, flaw, or mistake; to cancel a debt.
From Old English 'forġiefan' (to give up, to allow, to grant, to forgive), from 'for-' (completely, away) + 'giefan' (to give), from Proto-Germanic *fra-gebaną, itself a calque (loan-translation) of Latin 'perdōnāre' (to give completely, to forgive), from 'per-' (through, completely) + 'dōnāre' (to give). The PIE root behind 'giefan' is *gʰebʰ- (to give, to receive). To forgive is literally 'to give away' — to give up one's right to resentment, to give forth a release from guilt. This same calquing pattern spread across all Germanic languages: German
'Forgive' is a perfect calque of Latin 'perdōnāre' — both literally mean 'to give completely/away.' English chose its native words (for- + give) to translate the Latin structure (per- + donate). This same Latin root produced 'pardon' (through French 'pardonner'). So 'forgive' and 'pardon' are