apology

English

Alternative forms

• apologie (archaic)

Etymology

From French apologie, from Late Latin apologia, from Ancient Greek ἀπολογία (apología, “a speech in defence”), from ἀπολογοῦμαι (apologoûmai, “I speak in my defense”), from ἀπόλογος (apólogos, “an account, story”), from ἀπό (apó, “from, off”) (see apo-) + λόγος (lógos, “speech”). Doublet of apologia. By surface analysis, apo- +‎ -logy

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈpɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈpɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlədʒi

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.

   Synonym: apologia

   The Apology of Socrates.

3. Anything provided as a substitute; a makeshift.

   a poor apology for a hotel room

   • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 20, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:

     [He] goes to work devising apologies for window curtains.

   • 1947 January and February, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 39:

     The response to firing is remarkable, and though the 280 lb. pressure seems more in the nature of a reserve for emergencies than a continuous working figure, even with the present-day apology for coal it seldom fell below 250 lb., and could always be brought up to blowing-off point with little difficulty. To this liveliness of steaming the thermic syphons are doubtless the chief contributory.

Derived terms

• apologian
• apologist
• apologize
• apologizer
• fauxpology
• my apology
• non-apology
• non-apology apology
• nonapology apology
• notpology
• preapology
• pre-apology
• send one's apologies

 

Related terms

• apologetic
• apologetics
• apologia

 

Translations

an expression of regret

• Albanian: falje (sq) f
• American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
• Arabic: اِعْتِذَار m (iʕtiḏār)
• Armenian: ներողություն (hy) (neroġutʻyun)
• Belarusian: прабачэ́нне n (prabačénnje)
• Bulgarian: извине́ние (bg) n (izvinénie)
• Catalan: disculpa f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 抱歉 (zh) (bàoqiàn), 道歉 (zh) (dàoqiàn)

• Czech: omluva (cs) f
• Danish: undskyldning c
• Dutch: verontschuldiging (nl) f
• Estonian: vabandus
• Finnish: anteeksipyyntö (fi), pahoittelu (fi)
• French: excuse (fr) f
• Georgian: ბოდიში (bodiši)
• German: Entschuldigung (de) f
• Greek: συγγνώμη (el) f (syngnómi)
• Hebrew: הִתְנַצְּלוּת (he) f (hitnatslút)
• Hindi: क्षमा (hi) m (kṣamā), क्षमायाचना ? (kṣamāyācnā), दोर्षस्वीकार ? (dorṣasvīkār), माफ़ी ? (māfī)
• Hungarian: bocsánatkérés (hu)
• Italian: apologia (it) f, scuse (it) f pl
• Japanese: 詫び (ja) (わび, wabi), 侘び (ja) (わび, wabi), 謝罪 (ja) (しゃざい, shazai), 申し訳 (ja) (もうしわけ, mōshiwake)
• Kapampangan: kapanupayan, kepanupayan
• Khmer: ខមាទោស (km) (khɑɑmiətooh), ការសុំទោស (kaa som tooh)
• Korean: 사과(謝過) (ko) (sagwa), 사죄(謝罪) (ko) (sajoe)
• Lao: ຄຳຂໍໂທດ (kham khǭ thōt)
• Latvian: atvainošanās m
• Lithuanian: atsiprašymas (lt) m
• Low German: Entschülligunge f (Paderbornisch)
• Luxembourgish: Entschëllegung f
• Macedonian: извинение n (izvinenie)
• Malay: permintaan maaf
• Maori: whakapāha
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnskyldning m or f

  Nynorsk: unnskyldning f

• Old English: lādung f
• Persian: پوزش (fa) (puzeš), معذرت (fa) (ma'zerat), عذرخواهی (fa) ('ozr-xâhi)
• Polish: przeprosiny (pl) pl, przeproszenie n
• Portuguese: desculpa (pt) f
• Romanian: scuză (ro) f
• Russian: извине́ние (ru) n (izvinénije), проще́ние (ru) n (proščénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: leisgeul m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: извиње́ње n

  Roman: izvinjénje (sh) n

• Slovak: ospravedlnenie n
• Slovene: opravičilo n
• Spanish: disculpa (es) f
• Swedish: ursäkt (sv) c
• Tagalog: patawad, paumanhin (tl)
• Tajik: маъзарат (maʾzarat), узрхохӣ (uzrxoxī)
• Thai: คำขอโทษ (kam-kɔ̌ɔ-tôot), ^{(please verify)} บทแถลง (bòt-tà-lɛ̌ɛng)
• Turkish: itizar (tr), özür (tr)
• Ukrainian: ви́бачення n (výbačennja), проба́чення n (probáčennja), перепро́шення n (perepróšennja)
• Urdu: مُعَافِی f (mu'āfī)
• Vietnamese: sự xin lỗi (vi)
• Yiddish: אַנטשולדיקונג f (antshuldikung)

formal justification, defence

• Albanian: apologji (sq)
• Arabic: دِفَاع (ar) m (difāʕ), تَبْرِير m (tabrīr)
• Armenian: պաշտպանական (hy) (paštpanakan)
• Belarusian: апраўда́нне n (apraŭdánnje)
• Bulgarian: оправда́ние (bg) n (opravdánie)
• Catalan: apologia f
• Danish: forsvar n
• Dutch: verweer (nl) n, apologie (nl) f
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), puolustuskirjoitus
• French: apologie (fr) f
• German: Apologie (de) f
• Gothic: 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌾𐍉𐌽𐍃 f (sunjōns)
• Greek: απολογία (el) f (apología)
• Hebrew: הִצְטַדְּקוּת f (hitstadkút), הִתְנַצְּלוּת (he) f (hitnatslút)
• Hungarian: védőbeszéd (hu)
• Irish: apalacht f
• Italian: apologia (it) f
• Japanese: 弁明 (ja) (べんめい, benmei)
• Korean: 변명(辨明) (ko) (byeonmyeong)
• Old English: lādung f
• Polish: apologia (pl) f, apologetyka f
• Portuguese: apologia (pt) f
• Russian: оправда́ние (ru) n (opravdánije), извине́ние (ru) n (izvinénije)
• Spanish: disculpa (es) f, excusa (es) f, apología (es) f
• Turkish: savunca, müdafaa (tr)
• Ukrainian: ви́правдання n (výpravdannja), оправда́ння n (opravdánnja)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} maaf (id)

See also

• remorse

Further reading

• “apology”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “apology”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.