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”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /əˈpɒl.ə.dʒi/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɒlədʒi

Noun

apology (plural apologies)

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.
A formal justification, defence.
The Apology of Socrates.
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.

Synonyms

(formal justification): apologia

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 (iʿtiḏār)
Armenian: ներողություն (hy) (nerołutʿyun)
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 (kṣamāyāchanā), दोर्षस्वीकार (dorṣasveekār), माफ़ी (māfī)
Hungarian: bocsánatkérés (hu)
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)
Lithuanian: atsiprašymas (lt) m

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: извињење n
Roman: izvinjenje (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
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

Greek: απολογία (el) f (apología)
Hungarian: védőbeszéd (hu)
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, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: إعتذار - أسف

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