atonement

[ uh-tohn-muhnt ]

/ əˈtoʊn mənt /

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noun

satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.

(sometimes initial capital letter)Theology. the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, especially as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.

Christian Science. the experience of humankind's unity with God exemplified by Jesus Christ.

Archaic. reconciliation; agreement.

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Origin of atonement

First recorded in 1505–15; from phrase at one, at oon “in harmony” + -ment, as translation of Medieval Latin adūnāmentum; compare Middle English onement “unity”

Words nearby atonement

atonality, at once, atone, at one blow, at one fell swoop, atonement, at one's, at one's best, at one's convenience, at one's door, at one's ease

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use atonement in a sentence

For the first few months of this season, road trips for the Astros amounted to something like a traveling atonement carnival.
Alex Cora, leading Red Sox into a promising future, answers for his past in Houston|Chelsea Janes|May 31, 2021|Washington Post
Johnson notes that the conversation on reparations, which falls under atonement, needs to be expanded.
Why it took 100 years for America to learn about the Tulsa massacre|Fabiola Cineas|May 30, 2021|Vox
That racial reconciliation will involve the acknowledgment of the wrong that’s been done, an apology, and atonement.
Why it took 100 years for America to learn about the Tulsa massacre|Fabiola Cineas|May 30, 2021|Vox
You wrote, “His advocacy was a form of atonement but also deflection.”
What It's Like to Accuse a #MeToo Hero of Abuse|Eliana Dockterman|February 24, 2021|Time

Citizen Kane, at least in Mank’s telling, is equal parts his stroke of revenge and his plea for atonement.
David Fincher’s new movie Mank is a broadside against Hollywood self-congratulation|Alissa Wilkinson|December 4, 2020|Vox
For all our sins, may the Force that makes forgiveness possible forgive us, pardon us, and make atonement possible.
Jews and Non-Jews Need to Repent for the Sins of the U.S. and Israel|Rabbi Michael Lerner|September 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His public atonement and embrace of Westergaard might force Akkari himself to live with perpetual police protection.
The Repentant Radical|Michael Moynihan|September 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
What do you like to snack on while writing or reading Atonement?
Justin Cronin: How I Write|Noah Charney|October 10, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Five means atonement; 10 means completeness; 17 means heaven.
Before the Rapture|Bryan Curtis|May 19, 2011|DAILY BEAST
But my burden is nothing compared to her loss and the suffering her family had to endure…Atonement is a process that never ends.
Teddy Recollects|The Daily Beast|September 14, 2009|DAILY BEAST
It was not alone the slaying and offering of sacrifice, but also the sprinkling of blood that made atonement.
The Ordinance of Covenanting|John Cunningham
You may think I'm offering myself as a sort of vicarious atonement—if your Doris fails you—but I'm not, really.
The Hidden Places|Bertrand W. Sinclair
The old woman has died, and her daughter Chane is brought before us on the same Atonement day.
The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century|Leo Wiener
The reference to the "many women," "beholding afar off," forms a pathetic close to the story of the Great Atonement Day.
Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of Matthew|John Monro Gibson
The purpose of the writer is to teach the entire separateness of Christs atonement.
The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews|Thomas Charles Edwards

British Dictionary definitions for atonement

atonement

/ (əˈtəʊnmənt) /

noun

satisfaction, reparation, or expiation given for an injury or wrong

(often capital) Christian theol

the reconciliation of man with God through the life, sufferings, and sacrificial death of Christ
the sufferings and death of Christ

Christian Science the state in which the attributes of God are exemplified in man

obsolete reconciliation or agreement

Word Origin for atonement

C16: from Middle English phrase at onement in harmony

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

atonement

Origin of atonement

Words nearby atonement

Words related to atonement

How to use atonement in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for atonement

Word Origin for atonement