atonement

[ uh-tohn-muhnt ]

noun

1. satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.
2. (sometimes initial capital letter) Theology. the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, especially as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ.
3. Christian Science. the experience of humankind's unity with God exemplified by Jesus Christ.
4. Archaic. reconciliation; agreement.

atonement

/ əˈtəʊnmənt /

noun

1. satisfaction, reparation, or expiation given for an injury or wrong
2. often capital Christian theol
   1. the reconciliation of man with God through the life, sufferings, and sacrificial death of Christ
   2. the sufferings and death of Christ
3. Christian Science the state in which the attributes of God are exemplified in man
4. obsolete.
   reconciliation or agreement

Word History and Origins

Origin of atonement¹

First recorded in 1505–15; from phrase at one, at oon “in harmony” + -ment, as translation of Medieval Latin adūnāmentum; compare Middle English onement “unity”

Word History and Origins

Origin of atonement¹

C16: from Middle English phrase at onement in harmony

Example Sentences

It does not cost anything, just a public act of atonement for past sins.

From BBC

Kalyan is also performing what he called 11 days of atonement rituals to rectify the "great injustice".

From BBC

He’s continued to use this language that evokes the theological logic of substitutionary atonement, where he bravely offers himself to be sacrificed on behalf of his followers.

From Salon

So, too, will Germany, whose support for Israel, rooted in atonement for the Holocaust, is second only to that of the United States.

From New York Times

What full atonement would look like is still up for discussion, but in the meantime the tribe is in the process of acquiring additional lands by year’s end, he says.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• penance
• redemption
• reparation