indulgence

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act or an instance of indulging; gratification: indulgence of every whim.
2. n. The state of being indulgent.
3. n. The act of indulging in something: indulgence in irresponsible behavior.
4. n. Something indulged in: Sports cars are an expensive indulgence.
5. n. Liberal or lenient treatment; tolerance: treated their grandchildren with fond indulgence.
6. n. Self-indulgence: a life of wealth and indulgence.
7. n. Something granted as a favor or privilege.
8. n. Permission to extend the time of payment or performance.
9. n. Patient attention: I beg your indulgence for just a few minutes.
10. n. Roman Catholic Church The remission of temporal punishment still due for a sin that has been sacramentally absolved.
11. v. Roman Catholic Church To attach an indulgence to.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of indulging; forbearance of restraint or control; gratification of desire or humor; also, the character of being indulgent.
2. n. Something with which one is indulged or gratified; a favor granted; an act of grace.
3. n. In com., forbearance of present payment; an extension, through favor, of the time in which a debt can be paid: as, to grant an indulgence of three months on a note.
4. n. In Roman Catholic theology: Remission of sins: used in this sense by the earlier ecclesiastical writers.
5. n. A remission of the punishment which is still due to sin after sacramental absolution, this remission being valid in the court of conscience and before God, and being made by an application of the treasure of the church on the part of a lawful superior. Eusebius Amort, History of Indulgences, quoted in Cath. Dict. Indulgences are classed as plenary or partial, general (that is, for the whole church) or particular, etc.
6. n. Relaxation of an ecclesiastical law, or exemption of a particular individual from its provisions: properly called dispensation.
7. n. In Scottish history, in the reigns of Charles II. and James II., permission to hold religious services.
8. n. A proclamation by Charles II. In 1671 or 1672, promising the suspension of penal laws relating to ecclesiastical matters which were directed against nonconformists. It was rejected by Parliament.
9. n. A proclamation by James II. in 1687, annulling penal laws against Roman Catholics and nonconformists, and abolishing religious tests for office. The refusal to read this declaration by several prelates led to their trial, and was one of the causes of the revolution of 1688.

Wiktionary

1. n. the act of indulging
2. n. tolerance
3. n. catering to someone's every desire
4. n. something in which someone indulges
5. n. Roman Catholicism A pardon or release from the expectation of punishment in purgatory, after the sinner has been granted absolution.
6. v. transitive (Roman Catholic Church) to provide with an indulgence

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of indulging or humoring; the quality of being indulgent; forbearance of restrain or control.
2. n. An indulgent act; favor granted; gratification.
3. n. (R. C. Ch.) Remission of the temporal punishment due to sins, after the guilt of sin has been remitted by sincere repentance; absolution from the censures and public penances of the church. It is a payment of the debt of justice to God by the application of the merits of Christ and his saints to the contrite soul through the church. It is therefore believed to diminish or destroy for sins the punishment of purgatory.
4. v. To grant an indulgence to.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an inability to resist the gratification of whims and desires
2. n. a disposition to yield to the wishes of someone
3. n. the remission by the pope of the temporal punishment in purgatory that is still due for sins even after absolution
4. n. the act of indulging or gratifying a desire
5. n. foolish or senseless behavior