Expiate

verb

verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To atone or make reparation for. ambitransitive

    "The Treasurer obliged himself to expiate the injury."

  2. 2
    make amends for wordnet
  3. 3
    To make amends or pay the penalty for. transitive

    "He had only to live and expiate in solitude the crimes which he had committed."

  4. 4
    To relieve or cleanse of guilt. obsolete, transitive

    "[…] and Epimenides was brought from Crete to expiate the city."

  5. 5
    To purify with sacred rites. transitive

    "Neither let there be found in thee any that shal expiate his ſonne, or daughter, making them to paſſe through the fyre: or that demandeth of ſouthſayers, and obſerueth dreames and diuinations, neither let there be a ſorcerer,"

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  1. 6
    To wind up, bring to an end. transitive

    "But when in thee times forrwes I behould, / Then look I death my daies ſhould expiate."

Synonyms

All synonyms
atoneabyabyeamendatoneatone for

Example

More examples

"If you made a mistake, then overcome your shame, try to expiate your fault."

Etymology

From Latin expiātus, past participle of expiō (“atone for”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.