expiatory

American  

[ek-spee-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] / ˈɛk spi əˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i /

adjective

1. able to make atonement or expiation; offered by way of expiation.

   expiatory sacrifices.

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expiatory British  

/ -trɪ, ˈɛkspɪətərɪ /

adjective

1. capable of making expiation

2. given or offered in expiation

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Other Word Forms

• nonexpiatory adjective

Etymology

Origin of expiatory

1540–50; < Late Latin expiātōrius, equivalent to expiā ( re ) ( expiate ) + -tōrius -tory ¹

Example Sentences

"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

As the state Librarian dryly explained: "It is an expiatory sacrifice to veracity, to good sense and true taste."

From Time Magazine Archive

But it is not to last�Stine is married to another, while Joachim is wedded only to his simple expiatory life.

From Time Magazine Archive

Afterwards, the perpetrator was purified from all guilt by sacrifices and expiatory rites.

From The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2 by Müller, Karl Otfried

But hearken to what remains to be told; I have lately arrived in France, and I wished not to let my great purpose of continual expiatory acts stand still during my sojourn in this country.

From The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 6 of 6 by Sue, Eugène