Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Amnesty
/ˈæmnəsti/noun
An official pardon that wipes out the legal record of an offence for a whole group of people.
The Greek roots
ἀ-
a-
not
μνῆστις
mnêstis
remembrance
Literally: “not remembering”
The story of the word
Athens produced both the thing and the word in 403 BC: when the Thirty Tyrants fell, the restored democracy swore an oath μὴ μνησικακεῖν, not to recall wrongs, and prosecutions for acts committed under the junta were barred. The word turns on memory rather than mercy, which is what separates an amnesty from a pardon: the offence is not forgiven, it is officially forgotten. Amnesia is the same root with the politics taken out.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → French → English
- First recorded
- 1570s
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
amnesiamnemonicanamnesis
In a sentence
The weapons amnesty ran for a month and filled two shipping containers.