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Apology comes to English from the Greek roots of apo- (“away from, off”) and logia (from logos, meaning “speech”). The word's earliest meaning in English was “something said or written in defense or justification of what appears to others to be wrong or of what may be liable to disapprobation.”
Apr 16, 2009 · The former UK defence minister Des Browne famously came up with a tortured form of words that didn't go quite as far as saying sorry in 2007. It came after 15 Royal Navy sailors who had been...
Sep 24, 2022 · 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 "away from, off" (see apo-) + logos "speech" (see Logos). In classical Greek, "a well-reasoned reply; a 'thought-out response' to the ...
The earliest known use of the noun apology is in the mid 1500s. OED's earliest evidence for apology is from 1533, in the writing of More.
A recent survey of more than 1,000 Brits found that that the average person says ‘sorry’ around eight times per day – and that one in eight people apologise up to 20 times a day.
The meaning drifted over time. By the late 16th century the meaning of "speaking in justification" had drifted to "speaking in regret", and by the 18th century this was the primary meaning. Source. This is actually rather common in languages--see here.
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The earliest known use of the verb apology is in the mid 1600s. OED's earliest evidence for apology is from 1633, in the writing of Thomas Heywood, playwright and poet. It is also recorded as a noun from the mid 1500s.
