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too pleased with your position or narrow accomplishments, too easily self-satis ed, and the
hour of reckoning may be closer than you realize. (Humans, as you know, are delighted to
be critical of the contentment of others.)
The noun is complacence (kƏm-PLAY′-sƏns) or complacency (kƏm-PLAY′-sƏn-see).
4. how to give—and forgive
T o condone is to forgive, overlook, pardon, or be uncritical of (an o ense, or of an
antisocial or illegal act). You yourself might or might not indulge in such behavior or
commit such an o ense, but you feel no urge to protest, or to demand censure or
punishment for someone else who does. You may condone cheating on one’s income tax,
shoplifting from a big, impersonal supermarket, or exceeding the speed limit, though you
personally observe the law with scrupulousness. (Not everyone, however, is so charitable or
forgiving.) The noun is condonation (kon′-dō-NAY′-shƏn).
Condone is built on Latin dono, to give, the root found in donor, one who gives; donate, to
give; and donation, a gift.
REVIEW OF ETYMOLOGY
PREFIX, ROOT, SUFFIX MEANING
1. bonus, bene good, well
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2. fides faith
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3. dico, dictus to say, tell
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4. pre- before, beforehand
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5. phone sound
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6. contra- against, opposite
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7. ad- to, toward
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8. facio, factus, fec-, fic-, -fy to make or do