Pronounced: MAN-uh, noun
Notes: I know what this is (originally), but I don’t know the meaning
Yesterday’s word
The word expiate means
- to extinguish the guilt incurred by
- to make amends for
First usage
Our word came into English in the late 1500s
Background / Comments
I was reaching back to the roots; I was thinking that our word means “to atone for”, and it turns out that our word came from the Latin word expiare (to atone for). In early English usage, it meant to ward off evil by means of some rite or rites. Alternatively, these rites could be used to cleanse or purify something, and this seems to be the sense we are left with today.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 