Ok here’s a question that my wife and I were discussing last night. How did the term apology come to have meanings that would seem on its face, contradictory or opposite to each other?
An apology in its most common usage could mean an expression of regret or remorse over a particular situation or statement.
An apology also means a formal defense or rebuttal of an idea or statement. (i.e. Plato’s Apology)
I searched the archives and could not find it…so I’m turning to the teeming millions for a possible explanation.
Someone in one of my philosophy classes asked why Socrates’ defense is known as “The Apology”, since he is very clearly not expressing regret. My prof (who was also a Greek scholar) answered that the word “apology”, in its original sense, simply meant “explanation”.
While I can’t give any specific reason why the word “apology” has come to mean a statement of regret, it’s not difficult to see how this would have come about over time.
The original meaning is “excuse” or "explanation " or “justification”. The word then branched out in different directions. You offer an explanation when you want to express regret for something you did. You also offer an explanation when you want to defend and justify an action. Which is why there are laws making “apology of terrorism” a crime in some countries.
Many words have evolved to have contradictory meanings in the same or in different languages. "Egregious"is an example. It originally meant “outstanding” and it went on to mean “outstandingly bad” or “outstandingly good” (in Spanish).
Thanks for your replies they make more sense now. I actually did a check on thesource of the term, and from my understanding apologia was latin for an original greek term meaning “speech” Thus i can see it branching from “speech” to “explanation” to the usages we use today.
“Apology” is really very rarely used to mean a defense or justification – indeed, some consider it a mistranslation of Plato’s Apologia to call it the Apology, because “apology” doesn’t really mean that in english (at least not anymore); it’s a false cognate. However, the term “apologist” is relatively common, and it means someone who defends another, not someone who expresses remorse on the other’s behalf.