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Definition of expiation : 1. An act by which the treats of prodigies were averted among the ancient heathen.
2. The act of making satisfaction or atonement for any crime or fault; the extinguishing of guilt by suffering or penalty.
3. The means by which reparation or atonement for crimes or sins is made; an expiatory sacrifice or offering; an atonement.

Synonyms:

reconciliation, conciliation, satisfaction, atonement, propitiation, amends, gratification, placation, penance

redemption, compensation, reparation

Usage examples:

• His scorn- his resentment- were they not the expiation, the penalty she had looked forward to all along? - "Marcella", Mrs. Humphry Ward.
• He endures a few minutes of sharp humiliation, it is true, but to the spectator this cannot but seem a very insufficient expiation, not only of the wrong he had done one woman, but of the indefinite number of wrongs he had done others. - "Robert Louis Stevenson a Record, an Estimate, and a Memorial", Alexander H. Japp.
• Besides, I said to myself that, if I suffered, it was only what I deserved; I took it as a sort of expiation of the harm I'd done. - "Will Warburton", George Gissing.