atone
UK /əˈtəʊn/ · US /əˈtoʊn/ verb
Forms atones atoning atoned
- verb (ambitransitive) To make reparation, compensation, amends or satisfaction for an offence, crime, mistake or deficiency. “He tried to atone for his mistakes by working harder.”
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To bring at one or at concordance; to reconcile; to suffer appeasement.
- verb (obsolete, intransitive) To agree or accord; to be in accordance or harmony.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To unite in making.
- verb (proscribed) To absolve (someone else) of wrongdoing, especially by standing as an equivalent.
Synonyms
expiate propitiate repair abegge abide aby/abye acquit answer answer for assoil make amends recover redeem reparate aby abye repent
Etymology
From atone (“reconciled”), from Middle English atone, attone, atoon (“agreed”, literally “at one”), equivalent to at + one. Compare Latin adūnō (“to unite, make one”) for the similar formation. Regarding the different phonological development of atone and one, see the note in one.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “atone”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details