PALLIATE.
Synonyms:
| apologize for, | conceal, | extenuate, | hide, | screen, |
| cloak, | cover, | gloss over, | mitigate, | veil. |
Cloak, from the French, and palliate, from the Latin, are the same in original signification, but have diverged in meaning; a cloak may be used to hide completely the person or some object carried about the person, or it may but partly veil the figure, making the outlines less distinct; cloak is used in the former, palliate, in the latter sense; to cloak a sin is to attempt to hide it from discovery; to palliate it is to attempt to hide some part of its blameworthiness. "When we palliate our own or others' faults we do not seek to cloke them altogether, but only to extenuate the guilt of them in part." Trench Study of Words lect. vi, p.[262] 266. Either to palliate or to extenuate is to admit the fault; but to extenuate is rather to apologize for the offender, while to palliate is to disguise the fault; hence, we speak of extenuating but not of palliating circumstances, since circumstances can not change the inherent wrong of an act, tho they may lessen the blameworthiness of him who does it; palliating a bad thing by giving it a mild name does not make it less evil. In reference to diseases, to palliate is really to diminish their violence, or partly to relieve the sufferer. Compare [ALLEVIATE]; [HIDE].
PARDON, v.
Synonyms:
| absolve, | condone, | forgive, | pass by, | remit. |
| acquit, | excuse, | overlook, | pass over, |
To pardon is to let pass, as a fault or sin, without resentment, blame, or punishment. Forgive has reference to feelings, pardon to consequences; hence, the executive may pardon, but has nothing to do officially with forgiving. Personal injury may be forgiven by the person wronged; thus, God at once forgives and pardons; the pardoned sinner is exempt from punishment; the forgiven sinner is restored to the divine favor. To pardon is the act of a superior, implying the right to punish; to forgive is the privilege of the humblest person who has been wronged or offended. In law, to remit the whole penalty is equivalent to pardoning the offender; but a part of a penalty may be remitted and the remainder inflicted, as where the penalty includes both fine and imprisonment. To condone is to put aside a recognized offense by some act which restores the offender to forfeited right or privilege, and is the act of a private individual, without legal formalities. To excuse is to overlook some slight offense, error, or breach of etiquette; pardon is often used by courtesy in nearly the same sense. A person may speak of excusing or forgiving himself, but not of pardoning himself. Compare [ABSOLVE]; [PARDON], n.