Etymologically
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atone

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əˈtəʊn/ (UK); /əˈtoʊn/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It developed in English from the phrase at on, at one “in agreement”,[2][3][4][5] a contraction of at and one.[2][5][4] It keeps the older pronunciation of one.[5] Random House treats it as a back-formation from atonement.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To be reconciled; to be in harmony (Middle English atonen, probably about 1300).[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

To atone was originally to bring or come together, to set parties at one.[7][5] Because reconciling an offended party usually needs some reparation, the meaning moved to making amends.[5] The sense “make up for errors or deficiencies” is from the 1660s, and “make reparations” from the 1680s;[5][1] the earlier sense of reconciliation is now obsolete.[4][6]

Timeline

  • c1300 – atonen, to reconcile.[3]
  • 1555 – to compose differences, appease.[7]
  • 1593 – to bring contending persons into concord.[7]
  • 1660s – to make up for deficiencies.[5]
  • 1682 – to make reconcilement for an offender.[7][5]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To make amends or reparation, as for a wrong or sin.
  2. To make up for errors or failings.
  3. (obsolete) To reconcile; to agree.

Word family

  • atonable
  • atoner
  • atoningly
  • unatoned
  • unatoning
  • atonement
  • one

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press