expiate

American  

[ek-spee-eyt] / ˈɛk spiˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

expiated, expiating

1. to atone for; make amends or reparation for.

   to expiate one's crimes.

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expiate British  

/ ˈɛkspɪˌeɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to atone for or redress (sin or wrongdoing); make amends for

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Other Word Forms

• expiator noun
• unexpiated adjective

Etymology

Origin of expiate

1585–95; < Latin expiātus (past participle of expiāre to atone for, make good), equivalent to ex- ex- ¹ + piā ( re ) to propitiate ( pious ) + -tus past participle suffix

Explanation

In the fairy tale, the baker must expiate his father’s sins by bringing the witch three ingredients for a magic potion: a cow, a cape and a slipper. Expiate means to make amends or atone for a wrong you or someone else has committed. After the incident on the hill, a mortified Jill expiated her guilt by buying Jack a brand new crown. The shiny new crown served as compensation, or expiation, for the broken one. That it cost her so dearly made the expiatory gesture especially meaningful to poor Jack.

Example Sentences

The Sisters have come a long way, but never strayed from their mission: to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2023

You repeat a trauma continually, until you expiate it.

From The Guardian • Dec. 8, 2019

Titch wants to expiate the misdeeds of his childhood, and seeks the approval of his remote, inconstant father.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 17, 2018

In his letter he also quoted a Buddhist text: “Can a new wrong expiate old wrongs?”

From New York Times • Oct. 28, 2016

He also seemed to be trying to do something more than expiate guilt.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden