apology

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• apologie (archaic)

Etymology

From French apologie, from Late Latin apologia, from Ancient Greek ἀπολογία (apologia, “a speech in defence”), from ἀπολογοῦμαι (apologoumai, “I speak in one's defense”), from ἀπόλογος (apologos, “an account, story”), from ἀπό (apo, “from, off”) (see apo-) + λόγος (logos, “speech”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈpɒl.ə.dʒɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

apology (plural apologies)

1. An expression of remorse or regret for having said or done something that harmed another: an instance of apologizing (saying that one is sorry).

   What he said really hurt my feelings, but his apology sounded so sincere that I couldn't help but forgive him.

   The CEO made a public apology for the scandal, and promised full cooperation with the authorities.

2. A formal justification, defence.

   The Apology of Socrates.

Synonyms

• (formal justification): apologia

Derived terms

• apologian; apologist; apologize, apologizer

Related terms

• apologetic; apologetics; apologia

Translations

an expression of regret

• American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
• Arabic: اعتذار (ar) (i3tidhaar) m
• Bulgarian: извинение (bg) (izvinénie) n 
• Catalan: disculpa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 抱歉 (cmn) (bàoqiàn)

• Czech: omluva (cs) f
• Danish: undskyldning (da) c
• Dutch: verontschuldiging (nl) f
• Finnish: anteeksipyyntö (fi), pahoittelu (fi)
• French: excuse (fr) f
• German: Entschuldigung (de) f
• Hebrew: התנצלות (he) (hitnatzlút) f, סליחה (he) (slikhá) f
• Hindi: क्षमा (hi) (kṣamā) m, क्षमायाचना (hi) (kṣamāyāchanā), दोर्षस्वीकार (hi) (dorṣasveekār), माफी (hi) (māphī)

• Italian: apologia (it) f
• Japanese: 詫び (ja) (わび, wabi) / 侘び (ja) (わび, wabi), 謝罪 (ja) (しゃざい, shazai)
• Lithuanian: atsiprašymas (lt)
• Luxembourgish: Entschëllegung (lb) f
• Malay: permintaan maaf (ms)
• Maori: whakapāha (mi)
• Polish: przeprosiny (pl) pl
• Portuguese: desculpa (pt) f
• Russian: извинение (ru) (izvinénije) n , прощение (ru) (proščénije) n 
• Scottish Gaelic: leisgeul (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian: извињење (sh) (izvinjenje) n
• Spanish: disculpa (es) f
• Tagalog: patawad (tl), paumanhin (tl)

formal justification, defence

• Albanian: apologji (sq)
• Arabic: دفاع (ar)
• Bulgarian: оправдание (bg) (opravdanie)
• Danish: forsvar (da) n
• Dutch: verweer (nl) n
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), puolustuskirjoitus (fi)
• French: apologie (fr) f

• German: Apologie (de) f
• Greek: απολογία (el) (apología) f 
• Italian: apologia (it) f
• Japanese: 弁明 (ja) (べんめい, benmei)
• Portuguese: apologia (pt) f
• Russian: извинение (ru) (izvinenije)
• Spanish: disculpa (es) f, excusa (es) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: disculpa (ca) f
• Indonesian: maaf (id)
• Korean: 사과 (ko) (sagwa)

• Norwegian: unnskyldning (no)
• Arabic: إعتذار - أسف

See also

• remorse

External links

• apology in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• apology in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911