APOLOGY • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Apology

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/əpˈɑlədʒi/ Listen

noun

Apology n. (pl. apologies)

1.

Something said or written in defense or justification of what appears to others wrong, or of what may be liable to disapprobation; justification; as, Tertullian's Apology for Christianity. "It is not my intention to make an apology for my poem; some will think it needs no excuse, and others will receive none."

2.

An acknowledgment intended as an atonement for some improper or injurious remark or act; an admission to another of a wrong or discourtesy done him, accompanied by an expression of regret.

3.

Anything provided as a substitute; a makeshift. "He goes to work devising apologies for window curtains."

Synonyms: Excuse. An apology, in the original sense of the word, was a pleading off from some charge or imputation, by explaining and defending one's principles or conduct. It therefore amounted to a vindication. One who offers an apology, admits himself to have been, at least apparently, in the wrong, but brings forward some palliating circumstance, or tenders a frank acknowledgment, by way of reparation. We make an apology for some breach of propriety or decorum (like rude expressions, unbecoming conduct, etc.), or some deficiency in what might be reasonably expected. We offer an excuse when we have been guilty of some breach or neglect of duty; and we do it by way of extenuating our fault, and with a view to be forgiven. When an excuse has been accepted, an apology may still, in some cases, be necessary or appropriate. "An excuse is not grounded on the claim of innocence, but is rather an appeal for favor resting on some collateral circumstance. An apology mostly respects the conduct of individuals toward each other as equals; it is a voluntary act produced by feelings of decorum, or a desire for the good opinion of others."

verb

Apology v. i. To offer an apology. (Obs.) "For which he can not well apology."

See images of 'Apology'

Etymology of 'Apology'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Apology" Quotes from Famous Books

... moment, and then, with glazing eye and drooping crest, the dying creature turned over on its side and was borne helpless to our feet. By the time Pepper extended his arm and drew it in, with the quaint apology, "I'm sorry I shot yer, old feller! I, am, indeed," the heron was dead; and that happened to be the only one I ever came across during my mountain life. Once I saw some beautiful red-shanks flying down the gorge of the Selwyn, and F—— nearly broke his neck in climbing the crag ...

— Station Amusements • Lady Barker

... to the reading world these pages of the last Journal of one of the most popular writers of our day, no apology can be ...

— The Last Voyage - to India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam' • Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey

... made this apology, since I had omitted to apologize to the other ladies, on whom I had ventured to intrude at abnormal hours. I fear that I was weak enough to feel bewildered by the pensive loveliness of the face at which I looked, and that my confidence ebbed away ...

— Henry Dunbar - A Novel • M. E. Braddon

... My apology for adding a postscript, to a discussion already perhaps too protracted, is the fact that the preceding sheets were in the hands of the printer, and all but the concluding pages had gone through the press, before the passage of Mr. Calhoun's ...

— The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus • American Anti-Slavery Society

... direct me on my way. I certainly could not then foresee that I would disturb a Russian princess in her boudoir, or that I might be thrown out by her athletic bodyguard. Still, I thought I ought not now to leave the house without making some apology, and, if the worst should come, I could show my card. They could hardly believe that a member of an Embassy had any ...

— Ranson's Folly • Richard Harding Davis

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