EXPIATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does expiation mean? 

• EXPIATION (noun)
  The noun EXPIATION has 2 senses:

1. compensation for a wrong

2. the act of atoning for sin or wrongdoing (especially appeasing a deity)

  Familiarity information: EXPIATION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXPIATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Compensation for a wrong

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

atonement; expiation; satisfaction

Context example:

we were unable to get satisfaction from the local store

Hypernyms ("expiation" is a kind of...):

amends; damages; indemnification; indemnity; redress; restitution (a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury)

Derivation:

expiate (make amends for)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of atoning for sin or wrongdoing (especially appeasing a deity)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

atonement; expiation; propitiation

Hypernyms ("expiation" is a kind of...):

redemption; salvation ((theology) the act of delivering from sin or saving from evil)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "expiation"):

amends; reparation (something done or paid in expiation of a wrong)

Derivation:

expiate (make amends for)

 Context examples 

'The consequence,' said she, 'has been a state of perpetual suffering to me; and so it ought. But after all the punishment that misconduct can bring, it is still not less misconduct. Pain is no expiation. I never can be blameless. I have been acting contrary to all my sense of right; and the fortunate turn that every thing has taken, and the kindness I am now receiving, is what my conscience tells me ought not to be.' 'Do not imagine, madam,' she continued, 'that I was taught wrong. Do not let any reflection fall on the principles or the care of the friends who brought me up. The error has been all my own; and I do assure you that, with all the excuse that present circumstances may appear to give, I shall yet dread making the story known to Colonel Campbell.'

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

If the day were half as tremendous to any other professional gentleman in Doctors' Commons as it was to me, I sincerely believe he made some expiation for his share in that rotten old ecclesiastical cheese.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)