Indulgentia
/ɪnˈdʌldʒənʃə/noun
Leniency, favor, or the act of yielding to someone’s wishes; in historical religious use, remission of punishment for sins.
Did you know?Latin *indulgentia* comes from *indulgere*, meaning “to be kind to, yield to,” and its religious meaning helped shape the medieval practice of indulgences, where words, authority, and salvation were tightly bound together.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leugʰ-
“to bend, yield, or break away”
Latin
Latin
indulgere
“to be kind to, yield to, or show favor”
Late Latin
Latin
indulgentia
“leniency, favor; remission of ecclesiastical penalty”
Old French
Old French
indulgence
“favor, leniency; church pardon”
Middle English
English
indulgence
“leniency, gratification, or ecclesiastical remission”
Modern English
English
indulgence
“the act of indulging or a thing that pleases excessively”