atone
/əˈtəʊn
/verb [no object]
Make amends or reparation: a human sacrifice to atone for the sin...
- Is it possible for that family to make amends and atone for its ill-gotten gains?
- This, they hold, gives the man a chance to atone for any hasty decision he might have taken.
- His successors on Chicago's south side have a chance to atone for those sins this week.
Synonyms
make amends, make reparation, make restitution, make recompense, make redress, make up for, compensate, pay, pay the penalty, pay the price, recompense, answer;
expiate, make good, offset;
do penance, redeem oneself, redress the balance
formal requite
Origin
Middle English (originally in the sense 'make or become united or reconciled', rare before the 16th century): from at one in early use; later by back-formation from atonement.