Meaning & use
royal pardon
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Meanings
nouncountablelawformal
An official act by a king or queen that forgives a crime and cancels its legal punishment.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a royal pardon' or 'royal pardons'.
Patterns
- grant someone a royal pardon
- receive a royal pardon
- issue a royal pardon
The king granted the rebel leader a royal pardon after ten years in prison.
Campaigners are calling for a royal pardon for the wrongly convicted soldier.
A royal pardon does not always mean the person is declared innocent.
nouncountablelawformal
A formal document or announcement that officially records such forgiveness.
Grammar: Countable: you can receive or sign a royal pardon.
Patterns
- sign a royal pardon
- a royal pardon is issued
The palace signed the royal pardon on the morning of the coronation.
Historians found the original royal pardon in the national archives.
Word forms
| plural | royal pardons |
|---|
Common combinations
- grant a royal pardon
- The monarch decided to grant a royal pardon to the aging prisoner.
- receive a royal pardon
- He received a royal pardon after new evidence came to light.
- seek a royal pardon
- The family has been seeking a royal pardon for over twenty years.
- full royal pardon
- The newspaper demanded a full royal pardon, not just a reduced sentence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pardon
- The general word for any official forgiveness of a crime; 'royal pardon' specifically means one given by a monarch.
- amnesty
- Usually covers a whole group of people or offenses, while a royal pardon is normally for one person.
- reprieve
- Often just delays or cancels a punishment temporarily, whereas a royal pardon removes the legal consequences.
Word family
- pardon verb
- To officially forgive someone for a crime or mistake.
- pardonable adjective
- Easily forgiven; not serious.
- unpardonable adjective
- Too serious to be forgiven.
Commonly confused: royal pardon or parole?
royal pardon vs parole
Parole is early release from prison with conditions; a royal pardon removes the conviction or punishment entirely.
Practice
The king decided to ______ the young soldier a royal pardon.
Choose one answer.
'Grant someone a royal pardon' is the standard legal collocation. 'Give to' is ungrammatical here because 'give' needs 'give someone something' without 'to' before the person, and 'make' or 'do' do not collocate with 'pardon'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “royal pardon”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.