Etymology
From atone (“reconciled”), from Middle English atone, attone, atoon (“agreed”, literally “at one”), equivalent to at + one. Compare Latin adūnō (“I unite, make one”) for the similar formation. Regarding the different phonological development of atone and one, see the note in one.
Verb
atone (third-person singular simple present atones, present participle atoning, simple past and past participle atoned)
- (transitive, intransitive) To make reparation, compensation, amends or satisfaction for an offence, crime, mistake or deficiency. [from 1680s]
- Synonyms: expiate, propitiate
- (obsolete, transitive) To bring at one or at concordance; to reconcile; to suffer appeasement. [from 1570s]
- (obsolete, intransitive) To agree or accord; to be in accordance or harmony. [from 1590s]
- (obsolete, transitive) To unite in making.
- (proscribed) To absolve (someone else) of wrongdoing, especially by standing as an equivalent.
Translations
to make reparation, compensation, or amends, for an offence or a crime
- Arabic: كَفَّرَ عَنْ (kaffara ʕan)
- Armenian: քավել (hy) (kʻavel)
- Bulgarian: изкупвам (bg) (izkupvam)
- Czech: odčinit
- Danish: sone (da), godtgøre
- Dutch: goedmaken (nl), compenseren (nl)
- Finnish: hyvittää (fi), sovittaa (fi)
- French: expier (fr)
- German: wiedergutmachen (de), kompensieren (de), gutmachen (de), Ersatz leisten, büßen (de), sühnen (de), Sühne leisten, Buße tun, Wiedergutmachung leisten
- Hungarian: vezekel (hu), jóvátesz (hu)
- Italian: espiare (it)
- Japanese: 償う (ja) (tsugunau)
- Latin: expiō
- Maori: whakamārie
- Old English: ġebētan
- Polish: odpokutowywać impf, odpokutować (pl) pf, pokutować (pl) impf, zadośćuczynić pf
- Portuguese: redimir (pt)
- Romanian: ispăși (ro)
- Russian: возмеща́ть (ru) impf (vozmeščátʹ), компенси́ровать (ru) impf (kompensírovatʹ)
- Scottish Gaelic: dèan rèite
- Spanish: expiar (es)
- Swedish: sona (sv), gottgöra (sv)
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to clear someone else of wrongdoing
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “atone”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “atone”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “atone”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.