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Originally Posted by ratbastid
Consider the word "forgive". In earlier iterations of the English language, it was spelled "foregive", and it meant quite literally to "fore-give". To give that person how it was before, as if the thing you're forgiving them for never happened.
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I concur with Rat on this one, and wanted to chime in that the English goes back to the Old Norse, which is what we speak here in Iceland today. And the Icelandic phrase for "excuse me," or "I'm sorry," (even just after bumping someone in the street) is still
fyrirgefðu, which if you break it down, is the same as for(fyrir)-give(gefa)+ you(ðu).
Or in longhand... "Please give me what we had before I injured you."