Both Uses of
atone
in
Emma, by Jane Austen
- Miss Bates stood in the very worst predicament in the world for having much of the public favour; and she had no intellectual superiority to make atonement to herself, or frighten those who might hate her into outward respect.†
Chpt 1.3-4 *atonement = the process of fixing or making up for a wrong
- — How to do her best by Harriet, was of more difficult decision;—how to spare her from any unnecessary pain; how to make her any possible atonement; how to appear least her enemy?†
Chpt 3.13-14
Definitions:
-
(1)
(atone) to fix or make up for a wrong -- especially a sin (even if nothing can be done to make up for the wrong other than to show regret)
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Archaically, atone could also mean to agree, to appease, or to reconcile.