reconciliation
Americannoun
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the act of coming to an understanding and putting an end to hostility, as when former enemies agree to an amicable truce.
Thirty years later, the rebel son is seeking reconciliation with his mother and sister.
Reconciliation between the government and the Indigenous community will take more than pleasant words.
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the state of being resigned to something undesirable, or the process of achieving this state; acceptance.
Telling them about her son as he was before the accident gave her a sense of peace and reconciliation with her loss.
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the act or process of making consistent or compatible.
There is a tension between justice and mercy, and their reconciliation is not easy or obvious.
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the act or process of verifying one account or set of figures with another to ensure or test for accuracy.
Reconciliation of the sum of money received and the number of tickets sold revealed a few reporting errors.
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U.S. Government. a Congressional procedure under which a simple majority of votes in the Senate is enough to pass legislation relating to the federal budget: used in order to avoid a potential filibuster.
noun
Usage
What does reconciliation mean? Reconciliation is the process of two people or groups in a conflict agreeing to make amends or come to a truce.Reconciliation is also the name of a Catholic sacrament involving the confession of sin. Less commonly, reconciliation refers to when someone accepts an undesirable situation, or to the process of making things compatible.Example: After years of conflict, the two parties have agreed to meet with the goal of reconciliation.
Other Word Forms
- nonreconciliation noun
- prereconciliation noun
- proreconciliation adjective
Etymology
Origin of reconciliation
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English reconsiliacion, from Latin reconciliātiōn-, stem of reconciliātiō “renewal, restoration,” from reconciliāt(us) “restored, reunited” (past participle of reconciliāre “to repair, restore, reunite”; reconcile ) + -iō -ion
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.
The Pope's visit to Africa follows his first foreign trip to Turkey and Lebanon late last year, where he called for peace and reconciliation in the Middle East.
From BBC
“I think this reconciliation between me and Lauryn is one of the best things that could possibly happen to the planet.”
From Los Angeles Times
Gil stressed that his country was "working toward a process of acknowledging past wounds, forgiveness and reconciliation," referring to the amnesty law.
From Barron's
The county conducted an audit of Harm Reduction-SD in April 2023 that revealed “significant financial control weaknesses including insufficient bank reconciliations and a deficient general ledger,” prosecutors allege.
From Los Angeles Times
"Rather than collectively punishing communities... the group contacted clan elders by phone before retaking areas, offered reconciliation, and let Macwiisley fighters keep their weapons in exchange for standing down."
From Barron's
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.
