Casual interjection used to apologize, get someone's attention, or excuse a small imposition. It is less polite than ごめんなさい or すみません.
See also: ごめんなさい
ごめん、返事が遅くなった。
Sorry I took so long to reply.
Excuse me, let me through for a second.
may I come in?; hello?
Used when calling from the entrance of a home or shop; in modern Japanese this is most commonly heard in the fixed polite phrase ごめんください.
See also: ごめんください
Hello, is anyone here?
Older or formal respectful noun use meaning permission, leave, or license. In ordinary modern contexts, 許可 or 免許 is usually clearer.
The old expression 御免を願う asks for permission or leave to withdraw.
天下御免 is used to mean that something is officially permitted.
dismissal; discharge; being relieved of duty
Now chiefly encountered in fixed expressions such as お役御免, meaning that someone or something has been relieved of its role, retired, or is no longer needed. The noun is respectful in origin.
This old printer is being retired as of today.
not wanting; objecting to; being fed up with; wishing to avoid
Usually used in the pattern 〜はごめんだ, meaning that the speaker definitely does not want something or has had enough of it. It can sound blunt or emphatic.
I don't want to pull an all-nighter ever again.
I never want to go through something like that again.
Sorry for being late.
Hello, may I come in? It's Tanaka.
The old machine was finally retired from service.
I've had enough of failures like this.
free pass; unrestricted access
exemption from various levies and taxes (militarist government era)
right of samurai to kill commoners for perceived affronts (Edo period)
Mixed kana-kanji spelling listed; understandable but generally less common than ごめん in everyday apologies.