amnesty Hear it!

amnesty definition

am·nesty (am′nəs tē)

noun pl. amnesties -·ties

  1. a pardon, esp. for political offenses against a government
  2. Archaic a deliberate overlooking, as of an offense

Etymology: Fr amnestie < L amnestia < Gr amnēstia, a forgetting: see amnesia

transitive verb amnestied -·tied, amnestying -·ty·ing

to grant amnesty to

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

law amnesty definition - legal

amnesty Synonyms

amnesty

n.

pardon, reprieve, absolution, immunity; see acquittal, pardon 1, 3.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

amnesty Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • declare: I would like to declare an amnesty, in the hope they may be returned.

Preposition: for

  • prisoner: Prince Max von Baden had introduced a general amnesty for all political prisoners tho there was reluctance to let Luxemburg have her freedom.

Adjective modifier

  • month-long: THE end of March sees the start of a month-long national guns amnesty.

Modifies a noun

  • bin: Clearly identifiable amnesty bins will be available for the safe disposal of illegal drugs.

Noun used with modifier

  • knife: The knife amnesty will run till the end of October.
amnesty usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"amnesty." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/amnesty>

APA Style

amnesty. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/amnesty

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment