Other Words from expiate

expiable \ ˈek-spē-ə-bəl

\ adjective

expiator \ ˈek-spē-ˌā-tər

\ noun

Did you know?

"Disaster shall fall upon you, which you will not be able to expiate." That ominous biblical prophecy (Isaiah 47:11, RSV) shows that expiate was once involved in confronting the forces of evil as well as in assuaging guilt. The word derives from the Latin expiare ("to atone for"), a combination of ex- and piare, which itself means "to atone for" as well as "to appease" and traces to the Latin pius ("pious"). Expiate originally referred to warding off evil by using sacred rites, or to using sacred rites to cleanse or purify something. By the end of the 16th century, English speakers were using it to mean "to put an end to." Those senses are now obsolete and only the "to extinguish the guilt" and "to make amends" senses remain in use.

Examples of expiate in a Sentence

Yom Kippur is the holy day on which Jews are expected to expiate sins committed during the past year.

Recent Examples on the Web Only the brilliant Richard Fleischer–Norman Wexler Mandingo in 1975 would expiate that consciousness. — Armond White, National Review, 27 Apr. 2022 In 17th-century Austria, wooden pillars were erected for the self-mortifying convenience of the flagellants who roamed Europe, whipping themselves to expiate whatever sins had brought on the Black Death. — Justin Davidson, Curbed, 15 Mar. 2021 Ridding oneself of guilt is often easier than overcoming shame, in part because our society offers many ways to expiate guilt-inducing offenses, including apologizing, paying fines, and serving jail time. — Annette Kämmerer, Scientific American, 9 Aug. 2019 Anyone who’s familiar with the world of competitive cycling knows that, for some athletes, the sport is a means of escaping, or salving, or expiating, tremendous inner pain. — Bill Gifford, Outside Online, 24 July 2019 Perhaps, but as Chief Justice John Roberts notes in his persuasive dissent, there’s no crisis that now compels the Court to expiate a long-ago mistake that Congress has the power to fix. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 21 June 2018 The goat sent away was meant to expiate the sins of the community. — Rabbi Avi Weiss, Jewish Journal, 23 Apr. 2018 The fantasy pleases her a good deal and seems to help expiate her feelings of guilt toward her husband. — Charles Champlin, latimes.com, 13 Apr. 2018 Either way, that’s a lot of money, of course, but the point is not to expiate upon the market forces driving prices in the funeral industry. — John Hirschauer, National Review, 2 Sep. 2017 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'expiate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.