Afiemi
Afiemi portrays a powerful sense of letting go or an act of sending away. This is the word our Lord Jesus sometimes used to portray the idea of forgiveness.

God’s forgiveness of our sins
When God forgives us, He no longer holds our sins against us; He releases us, and we are free to walk away. He no longer holds us in a prison of His anger. This is the word Jesus used to describe the forgiveness of the unforgiving servant.

Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt (Matthew 18:27).

Our own forgiveness of others
Jesus now turns to us with this view in mind, and tells us to release our offender. The word forgive here is translated from afiemi.

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:25)

When we forgive, we release our offender. When they hurt us, we tend to hold the offense against them; we put them in a kind of prison created by our anger, blame, and resentment. However, when we forgive them, we are in essence saying, “I release you, I am letting you go.” We drop all charges against them, as it were. Although they have gossiped about us, we still release them and let them go.