apology

English

Alternative forms

• apologie (archaic)

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French apologie, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl]  apologia, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] 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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈpɒl.ə.dʒi/

• 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.

   The Apology of Socrates.

   Synonym: apologia

3. Anything provided as a substitute; a makeshift.

   a poor apology for a hotel room

   • Charles Dickens

     He goes to work devising apologies for window curtains.

Derived terms

• apologian
• apologist
• apologize
• apologizer
• preapology

 

Related terms

• apologetic
• apologetics
• apologia

 

Translations

an expression of regret

• 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)

• Czech: omluva (cs) f
• Danish: undskyldning c
• Dutch: verontschuldiging (nl) f
• Estonian: vabandus
• Finnish: anteeksipyyntö (fi), pahoittelu
• French: excuse (fr) f
• German: Entschuldigung (de) f
• Greek: συγγνώμη (el) f (syngnómi)
• Hebrew: התנצלות (he) f (hitnatzlút), סליחה (he) f (slikhá)
• Hindi: क्षमा (hi) m (kṣamā), क्षमायाचना ? (kṣamāyācnā), दोर्षस्वीकार ? (dorṣasvīkār), माफ़ी ? (māfī)
• Hungarian: bocsánatkérés (hu)
• Interlingue:
• Italian: apologia (it) f, scuse (it) f pl
• Japanese: 詫び (わび, wabi), 侘び (わび, wabi), 謝罪 (ja) (しゃざい, shazai)
• Korean: 사과 (ko) (sagwa)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Lithuanian: atsiprašymas (lt) m
• Low German: Entschülligunge f (Paderbornisch)
• Luxembourgish: Entschëllegung f
• Macedonian: извине́ние n (izvinénie)
• Malay: permintaan maaf
• Maori: whakapāha
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnskyldning m or f

  Nynorsk: unnskyldning f

• Persian: پوزش (fa) (puzeš)
• Polish: przeprosiny (pl) pl
• Portuguese: desculpa (pt) f
• Russian: извине́ние (ru) n (izvinénije), проще́ние (ru) n (proščénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: leisgeul m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: извиње́ње n

  Roman: izvinjénje (sh) n

• Spanish: disculpa (es) f
• Swedish: ursäkt (sv) c
• Tagalog: patawad, paumanhin (tl)
• Thai: บทแถลง (bòt-tà-lăeng)
• Turkish: itizar (tr), özür (tr)
• Ukrainian: ви́бачення n (výbačennja)
• Vietnamese: sự xin lỗi (vi)
• Yiddish: אַנטשולדיקונג f (antshuldikung)

formal justification, defence

• Albanian: apologji (sq)
• Arabic: دفاع (ar)
• Bulgarian: оправда́ние (bg) n (opravdánie)
• Catalan: apologia f
• Danish: forsvar n
• Dutch: verweer (nl) n
• Finnish: puolustus (fi), puolustuskirjoitus
• French: apologie (fr) f
• German: Apologie (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: απολογία (el) f (apología)
• Hungarian: védőbeszéd (hu)
• Interlingue:
• Irish: apalacht f
• Italian: apologia (it) f
• Japanese: 弁明 (ja) (べんめい, benmei)
• Portuguese: apologia (pt) f
• Russian: оправда́ние (ru) n (opravdánije), извине́ние (ru) n (izvinénije)
• Spanish: disculpa (es) f, excusa (es) f
• Turkish: savunca, müdafaa (tr)

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

• (deprecated template usage) Arabic: إعتذار, أسف
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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.