apologize

English

Alternative forms

• apologise (non-Oxford British English)

Etymology

From apology +‎ -ize, from ἀπολογία (apología, “a speech in defense”), from ἀπολογέομαι (apologéomai, “to speak in one’s defense”), from ἀπόλογος (apólogos, “an account, story”), compound of ἀπο- (apo-, “from, off”) and λόγος (lógos, “speech”); compare also ἀπολογίζομαι (apologízomai, “to render an account”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈpɒləd͡ʒaɪz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈpɑləd͡ʒaɪz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

apologize (third-person singular simple present apologizes, present participle apologizing, simple past and past participle apologized) (American spelling, Oxford British English)

1. (intransitive, often followed by “for”) To make an apology or excuse; to acknowledge some fault or offense, with expression of regret for it, by way of amends

   My correspondent apologized for not answering my letter.

   • 1856, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth:

     Barnes was commanded, with Garrett and Jerome, to make a public acknowledgment of his errors; and to apologize especially for his insolent language to Gardiner

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Today I want to apologize to my co-workers.

     Audio (US):

     (file)

2. (intransitive) To express regret that a certain event has occurred.
3. (intransitive, dated) To make an apologia or defense; to act as apologist.
   • 1660, H[enry] More, An Explanation of the Grand Mystery of Godliness; […], London: […] J[ames] Flesher, for W[illiam] Morden […], →OCLC:

     To this purpose the most witty, cautious and subtile ſort of the Pagans apologize for themselves

Derived terms

• apologist
• apologizable
• apologization
• apologizer, apologiser
• apologizingly
• overapologize
• preapologize
• reapologize
• unapologizing

 

Related terms

• apologetics
• apology

 

Translations

to express regret

• Finnish: pahoitella (fi)
• French: s’excuser (fr), présenter des excuses
• Italian: chiedere perdono, chiedere scusa, scusarsi (it)
• Latin: sibi paenitēre
• Maori: whakapāha
• Polish: przepraszać (pl) impf, przeprosić (pl) pf
• Portuguese: pedir desculpas/perdão, desculpar-se

to make an apology or defense

• Catalan: apologitzar (ca)
• Dutch: verantwoorden (nl)
• Finnish: puolustella (fi)
• French: faire l’apologie de
• Hungarian: védőbeszédet tart
• Old English: lādung f
• Portuguese: apologizar, fazer apologia a

to make an apology or excuse

• Albanian: kërkoj falje
• American Sign Language: A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert
• Arabic: اِعْتَذَرَ (iʕtaḏara), اِسْتَعْذَرَ (istaʕḏara), اِسْتَصْفَحَ (istaṣfaḥa)
• Armenian: ներողություն խնդրել (neroġutʻyun xndrel)
• Azerbaijani: üzr istəmək
• Belarusian: выбача́цца impf (vybačácca), вы́бачыцца pf (výbačycca), прабача́цца impf (prabačácca), праба́чыцца pf (prabáčycca), перапра́шваць impf (pjeraprášvacʹ), перапрасі́ць pf (pjeraprasícʹ)
• Bulgarian: извиня́вам се (bg) impf (izvinjávam se), извиня́ се pf (izvinjá se)
• Burmese: တောင်းပန် (my) (taung:pan)
• Catalan: apologitzar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Dungan: доҗи (doži)

  Mandarin: 道歉 (zh) (dàoqiàn)

• Czech: omlouvat se (cs) impf, omluvit se (cs) pf
• Danish: undskylde sig (da)
• Dutch: zich verontschuldigen (nl)
• Esperanto: pardonpeti
• Estonian: vabandama (et)
• Finnish: pyytää anteeksi (fi), pahoitella (fi)
• French: s’excuser (fr)
• Georgian: ბოდიშის მოხდა (bodišis moxda)
• German: sich entschuldigen (de)
• Greek: ζητάω συγγνώμη (zitáo syngnómi)
• Hawaiian: mihi
• Hebrew: הִתְנַצֵּל (hitnatsél)
• Hindi: क्षमा मांगना (kṣamā māṅgnā)
• Hungarian: bocsánatot kér (hu), elnézést kér (hu), sajnálkozik (hu)
• Ido: exkuzar (io)
• Ingrian: kyssyä anteeks
• Italian: scusarsi (it)
• Japanese: 謝る (ja) (あやまる, ayamaru), 詫びる (ja) (わびる, wabiru), 謝罪する (ja) (しゃざいする, shazai suru)
• Kazakh: кешірім сұрау (keşırım sūrau)
• Khmer: លន់តួ (km) (lŭən tuə)
• Korean: 사과하다 (ko) (sagwahada), 사죄하다 (ko) (sajoehada)
• Kyrgyz: кечирим суроо (kecirim suroo)
• Lao: ຂໍໂທດ (khǭ thōt)
• Latvian: atvainoties
• Lithuanian: atsiprašyti (lt)
• Macedonian: се извинува impf (se izvinuva), се извини pf (se izvini)
• Maori: whakapāha
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: unnskylde seg, beklage

• Old English: lādian
• Persian: عذرخواهی کردن (fa) ('ozr-xâhi kardan), معذرت خواستن (fa) (ma'zerat xâstan)
• Polish: przepraszać (pl) impf, przeprosić (pl) pf, apologizować impf
• Portuguese: desculpar-se
• Romanian: cere scuze
• Russian: извиня́ться (ru) impf (izvinjátʹsja), извини́ться (ru) pf (izvinítʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: испри́чати се pf

  Roman: ispríčati se (sh) pf

• Slovak: ospravedlňovať sa impf, ospravedlniť sa pf
• Slovene: opravičevati se impf, opravičiti se pf
• Spanish: disculparse (es)
• Swedish: be om ursäkt (sv), ursäkta sig (sv)
• Tajik: узр хостан (uzr xostan), узр пурсидан (uzr pursidan), афв талабидан (afv talabidan)
• Thai: ขอโทษ (th) (kɔ̌ɔ-tôot)
• Turkish: özür dilemek (tr)
• Turkmen: ötünç soramak
• Ukrainian: вибача́тися impf (vybačátysja), ви́бачитися pf (výbačytysja), перепро́шувати impf (perepróšuvaty), перепроси́ти pf (pereprosýty)
• Urdu: عُذْر کَرْنَا ('uzr karnā), مُعافی مانْگْنا (mu'āfī māṅgnā)
• Uyghur: كەچۈرۈم سورىماق (kechürüm sorimaq)
• Uzbek: kechirim soʻramoq, uzr soʻramoq, afv soʻramoq
• Vietnamese: xin lỗi (vi)
• Yiddish: אַנטשולדיקן זיך (antshuldikn zikh)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: verantwoorden (nl)
• Georgian: ბოდიშის მოხდა (bodišis moxda)
• Hebrew: התנצל (hitnatsél), ביקש סליחה (bikésh slikhá)
• Welsh: ymddiheurio

References

• “apologize”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Portuguese

Verb

apologize

1. inflection of apologizar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative