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

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

"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

A great expiatory sacrifice succeeded in finally calming him.

From The Contemporary Review, Volume 36, November 1879 by Various

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