People express apology by stating that they are “sorry.” This interests me for several reasons.

The word “sorry” denotatively classifies as an adjective that describes someone as filled with sorrow, or similar sad-type emotions. So expressing that “I am sorry” means that I am telling someone that I have such emotions.

However, an apology seems entirely distinct, if related. Apology (in everyday context; I understand its roots meaning “defense” or something along those lines) is the action of expressing to someone that something you had done was wrong, and that you regret it (usually to the point of committing not to do it again). However, there are multiple points in the process of making up for transgression that apology is acceptable. For example, it could be right after the sin was committed, or it could be after years of grudges, hopefully resolving a long-term conflict. But this flexibility in when an apology can be offered leads to an unavoidable inconsistency in the word’s definition. It could be that someone simply recognizes they did something wrong, or that they genuinely desire to make things right with the other party. The strange part is that these are all acceptable usages of the word “apology.”

All of this being said, sorrow has no direct implication of attempting to reverse/make up for transgression, and vice versa. Genuine apology can be offered without a feeling of sadness behind it and much sadness passes without personal guilt, and thus nothing can be apologized for. So in the end, it intrigues me that the two can be used synonymously with such unrelated individual denotative meaning.