Remission \Re*mis"sion\ (r?-m?sh"?n), n. [F. r['e]mission, L. remissio. See Remit.]

1. The act of remitting, surrendering, resigning, or giving up.

2. Discharge from that which is due; relinquishment of a claim, right, or obligation; pardon of transgression; release from forfeiture, penalty, debt, etc.

This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. --Matt. xxvi. 28.

That ples, therefore, . . . Will gain thee no remission. --Milton.

3. Diminution of intensity; abatement; relaxation.

4. (Med.) A temporary and incomplete subsidence of the force or violence of a disease or of pain, as destinguished from intermission, in which the disease completely leaves the patient for a time; abatement.

5. The act of sending back. [R.]

--Stackhouse.

6. Act of sending in payment, as money; remittance.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Pardon \Pardon\, remission \remission\

Usage: Forgiveness, Pardon. Forgiveness is Anglo-Saxon, and pardon Norman French, both implying a giving back. The word pardon, being early used in our Bible, has, in religious matters, the same sense as forgiveness; but in the language of common life there is a difference between them, such as we often find between corresponding Anglo-Saxon and Norman words. Forgive points to inward feeling, and suppose alienated affection; when we ask forgiveness, we primarily seek the removal of anger. Pardon looks more to outward things or consequences, and is often applied to trifling matters, as when we beg pardon for interrupting a man, or for jostling him in a crowd. The civil magistrate also grants a pardon, and not forgiveness. The two words are, therefore, very clearly distinguished from each other in most cases which relate to the common concerns of life. Forgiver \For*giv"er\, n. One who forgives. --Johnson.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)