Atone literally means "to become at one" — a purely English theological coinage that fused a two-word phrase into a single verb of moral repair.
To make amends for a wrongdoing or offense. To reconcile or bring into harmony after a period of estrangement.
From Middle English atonen (to reconcile), a contraction of at onen (to make at one), literally to bring into unity or agreement Key roots: at one (English: "in a state of unity, reconciled"), *oi-no- (Proto-Indo-European: "one, unique").
Atone is one of the rare English words coined by fusing a phrase into a single verb — "at one" became "atone," meaning to become unified or reconciled. The word "atonement" was reportedly popularized by William Tyndale in his 1526 Bible translation as an English equivalent for Latin reconciliatio. It is sometimes called the only significant theological term of purely English origin. The Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, uses this English word to translate