Working Definition of Forgiveness

In an effort to keep this as simple as possible, I am going to do my best to get right to the point, although I have spent HOURS looking at scripture for an answer to my first question:

What is Forgiveness?

I first explored scriptures with the word "forgive" in them, using Strong's Bible Dictionary to help me define the word in the most literary sense. I found two words that were translated quite often into the word "forgive."

The first reference I found can be seen Col 3:13, "...forgive as the Lord forgave you," and is transliterated from Hebrew as "carizomai". If you follow the link on that word, you will find a complete definition, but, to keep it simple, I'll put the highlights here:

Carizomai: To Pardon; to give graciously, give freely.

The second word I want to discuss here is "afiemi." It is the word translated as forgive in Matthew 6:12 (forgive us as we have forgiven others - 'Lord's Prayer') and Matthew 18:21 (we are not just to forgive 7 times, but 70 times 7), along with other places in the Bible.

Afiemi: To send away; to leave, not to discuss. To let go, let alone, let be. To give up, keep no longer.

From these definitions, I could skip about three steps ahead in my process, but I want to take my time with this. I want to simply come up with a working definition with which I can forge ahead on this journey. So, here it is:

Forgiveness: To let go of negative feelings and any perceived rights of retaliation related to an offense perpetrated against one's self, whether the offense is real or imagined.

That definition can create more questions than answers. What about justice? What about remorse? What about restitution?

One way to explore the answers to these questions is to look into the lives of some of the people God introduces us to in His word. That is my next step. In the meantime, please leave comments about this definition. It is a work in progress and I really am seeking an answer, not trying to find an excuse to preach at anyone.