apology

英 [ə'pɒlədʒɪ] 美[ə'pɑlədʒi]

近义词excuse

复数: apologies;

apology 辩解，道歉

前缀apo-, 离开，远离，相对。词根log-, 说，词源同lecture. 原义指自辩，辩解。后指道歉(道歉本质上也是一种辩解）。

apology: apology: [16] The original meaning of apology was ‘formal self-justification’, often used as the title of a piece of writing rebutting criticism (as in the Apology of Sir Thomas More, knight 1533). This is indicative of the word’s origins in Greek apologíā, a derivative of the verb apologeisthai ‘speak in one’s defence’, formed from the prefix apo- ‘away, off’ and logos ‘speech’ (source of English logic).

It entered English through either French apologie or Latin apologia (which was separately borrowed into English as a Latinism in the late 18th century). The meaning ‘expression of regret for offence given’ developed in the late 16th century.
=> logic
apology (n.): early 15c., "defense, justification," from Late Latin apologia, from Greek 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" (see lecture (n.)).

The original English sense of "self-justification" yielded a meaning "frank expression of regret for wrong done," first recorded 1590s, but this was not the main sense until 18c. The old sense tends to emerge in Latin form apologia (first attested in English 1784), especially since J.H. Newman's "Apologia pro Vita Sua" (1864).

2. Westcott appealed to Waite for an apology, which he duly received.: 韦斯科特要求韦特道歉，且如愿以偿。

3. Jones' lawyers are seeking an unreserved apology from the newspaper.: 琼斯的律师要求报纸坦诚道歉。