atone

American  

[uh-tohn] / əˈtoʊn /

verb (used without object)

• atones,
  present (3rd person singular)
• atoned,
  past participle,  past
• atoning
  present participle

1. to make amends or reparation, as for an offense or a crime, or for an offender (usually followed byfor ).

   to atone for one's sins.

2. to make up, as for errors or deficiencies (usually followed byfor ).

   to atone for one's failings.

3. Obsolete. to become reconciled; agree.

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verb (used with object)

• atones,
  present (3rd person singular)
• atoned,
  past participle,  past
• atoning
  present participle

1. to make amends for; expiate.

   He atoned his sins.

2. Obsolete. to bring into unity, harmony, concord, etc.

atone British  

/ əˈtəʊn /

verb

1. to make amends or reparation (for a crime, sin, etc)

2. (tr) to expiate

   to atone a guilt with repentance

3. obsolete to be in or bring into agreement

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• atoner
  noun
• atonable
  adjective
• atoneable
  adjective
• unatoned
  adjective
• unatoning
  adjective
• atoningly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• atoning
  present
• atoned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• atone
  simple
• atones
  simple
• have atoned
  perfect
• has atoned
  perfect
• am atoning
  progressive
• are atoning
  progressive
• is atoning
  progressive
• have been atoning
  perfect progressive
• has been atoning
  perfect progressive

Past

• atoned
  simple
• had atoned
  perfect
• was atoning
  progressive
• were atoning
  progressive
• had been atoning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will atone
  simple
• will have atoned
  perfect
• will be atoning
  progressive
• will have been atoning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of atone

First recorded in 1545–55; back formation from atonement

Explanation

To atone is to do something "right" to make up for doing something wrong. Religious believers are known to atone for their sins, but even students can atone for a past failure by acing a quiz or two. The word atone came to English as a contraction of the words at and one. The verb means to make amends or reparations for an offense or wrong doing. You can remember the meaning by thinking of it as a sort of Zen concept, to be "at one" or in harmony with someone, you have to atone for your mistakes and be forgiven. In a religious sense, it means to repent for sins ("to atone for his sins").

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

atone atones atoned atoning

Especially knowing full well that all that interrogation could ever reveal was a bottomless shame that nobody—and certainly not themselves—could atone for?

From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026

Having suppressed its military for years in an attempt to atone for the horrors it perpetrated, can Germany fulfil its newfound ambition to become Europe's preeminent military power?

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026

“I write to atone by telling the full truth so that the United States can protect itself from the dangers I witnessed for so many years,” Carvajal wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026

German politicians have been largely supportive of Israel as Germany seeks to atone for the legacy of the Holocaust.

From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026

And with that came this realization: that Rahim Khan had summoned me here to atone not just for my sins but for Baba’s too.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

He latches onto a careless back-header by Tyler Bindon and takes the ball around Reading keeper Joel Pereira, but Bindon atones by getting back to block on the line.

From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2024

It's a pattern of really bad behavior for which she never really atones.

From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2020

Pak atones for a three-putt bogey on the 18th hole in regulation that set up the playoff.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 4, 2020

It is for $400, an amount that seems commensurate with the offense for which it atones.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 7, 2019

It was among lean-to’s and adaptations—past ogham atones commemorating some long-dead Deag the son of No, built into a later bastion upside down.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

It leaves us with a chilling moral about how the misdeeds of the past, not properly atoned for, can shape the contours of life, and even death.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

She danced and sinned and regretted and atoned, and then contradicted herself by doing it all over again.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

McIlroy atoned for two bogeys with nine birdies, shooting a seven-under-par 65 to improve on his stellar 67 in the opening round.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026

Van Dijk atoned for his previous error to begin the Liverpool fightback when he headed in Szoboszlai's corner.

From Barron's ● Jan. 24, 2026

“But they ’bout to get a big surprise; justice sleeps but not for long and one day when it wake up, all sins is atoned for.”

From "The Journey of Little Charlie" by Christopher Paul Curtis

The original idea was to fund the Sagrada Família through donations by people atoning for their sins.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026

We should say their names, tell their stories, and honor their legacies by atoning for the harms caused and ensuring that nothing like this ever happens again.

From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026

Clinton Kelly and Stacy London return as its hosts, older, wiser and atoning for the tough love and scathing real talk they once doled out to style-challenged guests.

From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2026

Interspersed throughout the story are black-and-white “mystical visions,” as Anderson calls them, in which Korda sees himself in heaven atoning for his sins and even dialoguing with God.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025

As always, too, his thoughts turned quickly to find some way of atoning.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Related Words

• apologize
• redeem