atonement

American  

[uh-tohn-muhnt] / əˈtoʊn mənt /

noun

1. satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.

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

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

4. Archaic. reconciliation; agreement.

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atonement British  

/ əˈtəʊnmənt /

noun

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

2. (often capital) Christian theol

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

   2. the sufferings and death of Christ

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

4. obsolete reconciliation or agreement

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Etymology

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”

Example Sentences

The novel explores themes of ancestral sin and atonement against the backdrop of the forests, which stand as silent witnesses to human crimes enacted on a global scale.

From Los Angeles Times

Mr. Nesbø specializes in the psychological turf between good and evil, success and failure, violence and atonement.

From The Wall Street Journal

For all his personal failings, Bill Clinton has always clung to the promise of forgiveness and the process of atonement.

From Salon

In all fairness, we don’t know what level of atonement Pitt has made over the years.

From Salon

“There is and will not be any atonement for abandoning the captives,” he said.

From BBC

Related Words

• penance
• redemption
• reparation