ATONE
What does "ATONE" mean?
To make amends or reparation for a wrong, sin, or injury.
Meanings
- To make amends for a fault, offense, or sin. He spent years trying to atone for the harm his silence had caused.
- To bring into harmony or reconcile (archaic, transitive). The treaty sought to atone the warring houses into one peace. archaic
Did you know?
- Atone is one word built from three: 'at' + 'one'. To atone is, etymologically, to make yourself 'at one' with someone again - reconciliation hidden inside the spelling.
Word origin
From Middle English 'at one', meaning to be 'at one' or in harmony; the phrase fused into a single verb 'atone' by the 16th century, literally 'to set at one'.
Remember it
ATONE = AT ONE. You atone when you try to be 'at one' with the person you wronged.
A little poem
The cracked bowl, gold-seamed, returns to the shelf-
not hiding the break but tracing its line.
To atone is to gild the wound, not deny it.
tercet
Wordplay
- Why did the geologist apologize? To make a-tone for taking the rock for granite.
What it teaches
You cannot un-break the bowl; you can only choose how honestly you mend it.
Quick facts
What does ATONE mean?
To make amends or reparation for a wrong, sin, or injury.
Is ATONE a valid word?
Yes — ATONE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is ATONE?
ATONE has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does ATONE come from?
From Middle English 'at one', meaning to be 'at one' or in harmony; the phrase fused into a single verb 'atone' by the 16th century, literally 'to set at one'.
What can ATONE teach us?
You cannot un-break the bowl; you can only choose how honestly you mend it.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.