expiatory
Americanadjective
adjective
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capable of making expiation
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given or offered in expiation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of expiatory
1540–50; < Late Latin expiātōrius, equivalent to expiā ( re ) ( see expiate) + -tōrius -tory 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As the state Librarian dryly explained: "It is an expiatory sacrifice to veracity, to good sense and true taste."
From Time Magazine Archive
"After the great Christ paintings of the Renaissance, this is the first nonreligious painting of an expiatory personage, a self-sacrifice figure."
From Time Magazine Archive
I have witnessed the solemn judgment, the expiatory punishment of Louis Capet, called Louis XVI, the last of that line of Kings of Frankish origin.
From The Sword of Honor, volumes 1 & 2 or The Foundation of the French Republic, A Tale of The French Revolution by Sue, Eug?ne
"Ah! then we die in sin, and the dreaded rebirth cannot be avoided; but we hope to escape such a catastrophe and to return safely to our country to perform the necessary expiatory ceremonies."
From The Outcaste by Penny, F. E.
Lastly, the origin of the Delphinian expiatory festival from Delphi and Crete is as evident as its introduction by the Ionian princes; for Ægeus dwelt in the Delphinium, and was there buried.
From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
