remission

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of remitting.
• noun A condition or period in which something is remitted.
• noun A lessening of intensity or degree; abatement.
• noun Medicine Abatement or subsiding of the symptoms of a disease.
• noun The period during which the symptoms of a disease abate or subside.
• noun Release, as from a debt, penalty, or obligation.
• noun Forgiveness; pardon.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of remitting.
• noun The act of sending to a distant place, as money; remittance.
• noun Abatement; a temporary subsidence, as of the force or violence of a disease or of pain, as distinguished from intermission, in which the disease leaves the patient entirely for a time.
• noun Diminution or cessation of intensity; abatement; relaxation; moderation: as, the remission of extreme rigor; the remission of close study or of labor.
• noun Discharge or relinquishment, as of a debt, claim, or right; a giving up: as, the remission of a tax or duty.
• noun The act of forgiving; forgiveness; pardon; the giving up of the punishment due to a crime.
• noun Synonyms Absolution, etc. See pardon.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of remitting, surrendering, resigning, or giving up.
• noun Discharge from that which is due; relinquishment of a claim, right, or obligation; pardon of transgression; release from forfeiture, penalty, debt, etc.
• noun Diminution of intensity; abatement; relaxation.
• noun (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.
• noun rare The act of sending back.
• noun Act of sending in payment, as money; remittance.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A lessening of amount due, as in either work or money or intensity of a thing.
• noun A pardon of a sin; the forgiveness of an offense.
• noun medicine An abatement or lessening of the manifestations of a disease.
• noun law Referring a case back to a lower (inferior) court of law.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a payment of money sent to a person in another place
• noun (law) the act of remitting (especially the referral of a law case to another court)
• noun an abatement in intensity or degree (as in the manifestations of a disease)
• noun the act of absolving or remitting; formal redemption as pronounced by a priest in the sacrament of penance