indulgeo

Meaning

1. (conjugation-2, intransitive) to be kind or courteous (to); to be inclined (to); give free rein (to)
2. (conjugation-2, intransitive, transitive) to give oneself up (to); to be addicted (to), indulge (in) (takes a dative object)
3. (conjugation-2, transitive) to concede, allow, grant, permit, bestow
4. (conjugation-2) to favor

Concepts

excuse

forgive

pardon

Translations

verzeihen

παραβλέπω

pardonner

perdona

perdonar

Pronounced as (IPA)

[ɪnˈdʊɫ.ɡe.oː]

Etymology

From in- and an unattested verb *dulgeō, from Proto-Italic *dolɣēō, from Proto-Indo-European *delǵʰ- (“to become fixed”); cognate with Welsh dala (“to catch”), Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌻𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (tulgjan, “to reinforce”), and perhaps Sanskrit दृह् (dṛh, “to make firm”).
The initial in- may be, instead of the above, derived from a negated form of an unattested adjectival Proto-Indo-European *n-dlgʰ-ro- (“not hard”), thus giving indulgeō an original meaning of "to not be hard toward" > "to be lenient toward" > "to indulge". This is semantically smoother than if the "in-" were to mean "in".
Possibly related to longus, Ancient Greek ἐνδελεχής (endelekhḗs, “continuous”), thus originally with the meaning of "being persistent, patient".