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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary apol·o·gy \\ə-ˈpä-lə-jē\\ noun ( plural -gies) ETYMOLOGY Middle French or Late Latin; Middle French apologie, from Late Latin apologia, from Greek, from apo- + logos speech — more at legend
DATE 1533
1. a. a formal justification : defense b. excuse 2a2. an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret a public apology3. a poor substitute : makeshift Synonyms. apology , apologia , excuse , plea , pretext , alibi mean matter offered in explanation or defense. apology usually applies to an expression of regret for a mistake or wrong with implied admission of guilt or fault and with or without reference to mitigating or extenuating circumstances said by way of apology that he would have met them if he could apologia implies not admission of guilt or regret but a desire to make clear the grounds for some course, belief, or position his speech was an apologia for his foreign policy excuse implies an intent to avoid or remove blame or censure used illness as an excuse for missing the meeting plea stresses argument or appeal for understanding or sympathy or mercy her usual plea that she was nearsighted pretext suggests subterfuge and the offering of false reasons or motives in excuse or explanation used any pretext to get out of work alibi implies a desire to shift blame or evade punishment and imputes mere plausibility to the explanation his alibi failed to stand scrutiny
apology
1530s, "defense, justification," from L.L. apologia, from Gk. apologia "a speech in defense," from apologeisthai "to speak in one's defense," from apologos "an account, story," from apo- "from, off" (see apo-) + logos "speech." The original English sense of "self-justification" yielded a meaning "frank expression of regret for wrong done," first recorded 1590s, but it was not the main sense until 18c. The old sense tends to emerge in Latin form apologia (first attested 1784), especially since J.H. Newman's "Apologia pro Vita Sua" (1864).
Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English Oxford Collocations dictionary for students of Englishapology
noun ADJ. abject, humble, profuse It was a mistake. My profuse apologies. | heartfelt, profound, sincere | full | formal | public | written VERB + APOLOGY convey, give sb, issue, make, offer (sb), publish, send (sb) The newpaper has issued an apology to the minister. | get, receive | demand, deserve, expect We expect a full written apology. | owe sb She certainly owes you an apology. | mumble, murmur, mutter John muttered an apology then went back to his book. | accept Please accept my sincere apologies. | reject She rejected my apology, saying it was not enough. PREP. without ~ He backed out arrogantly and without apology. | ~ for an apology for arriving late | ~ from Apologies have been received from the Browns. | ~ to my apologies to your wife PHRASES a letter of apology, make no apology/apologies for I make no apologies for bringing this issue to your attention once again. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 apology
apol·ogy / E5pClEdVi; NAmE E5pB:l- / noun(pl. -ies)
1. [C, U] ~ (to sb) (for sth) a word or statement saying sorry for sth that has been done wrong or that causes a problem
道歉；谢罪:
to offer / make / demand / accept an apology
主动道歉；致歉；要求/接受道歉
You owe him an apology for what you said.
你要为你所说的话向他道歉。
We should like to offer our apologies for the delay to your flight today.
今天航班误点,敬请原谅。
We received a letter of apology.
我们收到了一封道歉信。
2. [C, usually pl.] information that you cannot go to a meeting or must leave early
(因不能赴会或提前离会的)致歉:
The meeting started with apologies (= the names of people who said they could not go to the meeting).
会议一开始就宣布了请假缺席者的名单。
(formal) She made her apologies and left early.
她致歉后就提前离开了。
IDIOMS
▪ make no a'pology / a'pologies for sth
if you say that you make no apology / apologies for sth, you mean that you do not feel that you have said or done sth wrong
(对某事)无可道歉,无错可认
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged apol·o·gy\əˈpäləjē\ noun( -es) Etymology: Middle French or Late Latin; Middle French apologie, from Late Latin apologia, from Greek, from apo- + -logia (from logos speech) — more at legend 1. : something said or written in defense or justification of what appears to others to be wrong or of what may be liable to disapprobation < an apology for a country's foreign policy >2. : an attempt to justify or excuse < a convenient apology for their ruthlessness in Darwinian philosophy — J.D.Hicks >3. : 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 < an apology to a hostess for being late >4. : something that serves as an excuse for the absence of something : a poor specimen or substitute : makeshift < devising apologies for window curtains — Charles Dickens >Synonyms: apologia , excuse , plea , pretext , alibi : apology in today's English usually indicates either a frank regretful admission that one has been wrong or a defense involving mitigating or extenuating circumstances < an apology for the offense > < traffic congestion was their apology for being so late > Sometimes, like the word apologia , it is used without suggestions of guilt or error simply to indicate an explanation for a course or belief < Justin Martyr, a native of Samaria, who wrote one of the more famous of the apologies for Christianity, and who won his sobriquet by his death for the faith — K.S.Latourette > < the preface to Mirsky's book on Lenin contains his apologia for his shift of allegiance to the Soviet power — Edmund Wilson > excuse indicates an explanation offered to escape censure or blame < it matters not that some uncontrollable impulse, the product of mental disease, may have driven the defendant to the commission of the murderous act. The law knows nothing of such excuses — B.N.Cardozo > plea usually involves an appeal for understanding, sympathy, or clemency < old Hepzibah's scowl could no longer vindicate itself entirely on the plea of nearsightedness — Nathaniel Hawthorne > pretext suggests a subterfuge, an offer of an untrue reason or motive < he made my health a pretext for taking all the heavy chores, long after I was as well as he was — Willa Cather > < the hypocrisy that covers gainful exploitation by the pretext of a civilizing mission, concerned with the elevation of the native population — J.A.Hobson > alibi , legally a plea that one was elsewhere than at the place at which a crime was committed, may be applied to a mitigating or placating explanation < the alibis of many churches for their failure to provide qualified chaplains — Scott Hershey & Harry Tennant > < federal taxes are already being used as an alibi for cuts in local school budgets — H.M.Groves >
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