APOLOGY • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • 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

... the harder then, and kept on hour after hour, having to take longer and longer journeys as I exhausted the supply close at hand; and all the time I was perfectly conscious that lions were near, prowling round our little apology for a camp so as to spring upon the horse and pull him down. Every time I started for more fuel I expected to hear a roar and feel one of the savage creatures spring upon me; but the night wore on, with ...

— Charge! - A Story of Briton and Boer • George Manville Fenn

... little volume into three parts, the first of which gives a short resume of the war against Troy and the destruction of that city, the second the wanderings of Odysseus till his arrival in Ithaca, the third his arrival and the killing of the wooers. We have no apology to make in presenting this book to the public as a school-book, since many people superior to us have shown the need of such books in school-work. The new public schools, as is well known, have a mission of the highest importance. They do not aim, as formerly, at absolute knowledge ...

— Odysseus, the Hero of Ithaca - Adapted from the Third Book of the Primary Schools of Athens, Greece • Homer

... in all cases my own. I say this without any apology of modesty. I hold that the one justification of writing a book at all is to state those truths one has learnt from one's own experience of life. For we can give to others only what we have received ourselves; the vision ...

— The Truth About Woman • C. Gasquoine Hartley

... her an apology," he said to himself. And so it came to pass that at three the following afternoon he was once more facing her in that creeper-walled seclusion whose soft lights were almost equal to light of gloaming or moon or stars ...

— The Conflict • David Graham Phillips

... immediately, Peter,"—Linda lifted her eyes to Morrison's face with a sparkle of gay challenge, and by way of apology interjected—"I am only a kid, you know, so I may call John's friend Peter—you should have assumed that sage and greasewood would simply have vanished from any home location chosen by Peter, leaving it all lacy blue ...

— Her Father's Daughter • Gene Stratton-Porter

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