expiation
AmericanOther Word Forms
- expiational adjective
- nonexpiation noun
Etymology
Origin of expiation
1375–1425; late Middle English expiacioun < Latin expiātiōn- (stem of expiātiō ) atonement, satisfaction. See expiate, -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.
Rather, each of these minions is in thrall to the project of keeping the lie alive, complicit in a pathological system of mortification, expiation, and fear that has taken on a life of its own.
From Slate • Sep. 15, 2023
The sisters’ mission statement is “the expiation of stigmatic guilt and the promulgation of universal joy,” but since their inception, they’ve been called diabolical and anti-Catholic and accused by their detractors of mocking Catholic nuns.
From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2023
History records some of these ugly episodes being interspersed with exercises in a staged national expiation of guilt — as was on display in Tulsa.
From Washington Post • Jun. 4, 2021
But as the legislative session winds to a close, some lawmakers, activists and victims say Albany’s expiation has been uneven, sparing some bad actors even as it has felled others.
From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2018
When all were completed and full expiation made for the death of his wife and children, he would seem to have earned ease and tranquillity for the rest of his life.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
