/am"neuh stee/ , n. , pl. amnesties , v. , amnestied, amnestying .
n.
1. a general pardon for offenses, esp. political offenses, against a government, often granted before any trial or conviction.
2. Law. an act of forgiveness for past offenses, esp. to a class of persons as a whole.
3. a forgetting or overlooking of any past offense.
v.t.
4. to grant amnesty to; pardon.
[ 1570-80; ( amnestie ) amnestía oblivion, equiv. to ámnest ( os ) forgetting ( a- A- 6 + mnes- remember + -tos verbal adj. suffix) + -ia -Y 3 ]
Syn. 1. See pardon .