reconciliation

noun

rec·​on·​cil·​i·​a·​tion ˌre-kən-ˌsi-lē-ˈā-shən 

1

: the action of reconciling : the state of being reconciled

2

: the Roman Catholic sacrament of penance

3

US government : a legislative process that enables expedited passage of a bill relating to certain matters in the federal budget by a simple majority of votes

used reconciliation to repeal the bill passed during the prior session of Congress

Aides to senior House Republicans said Thursday that committee chairmen were meeting now to decide whether a budget plan … will include parliamentary language, known as reconciliation instructions, that would allow much of a Republican health care plan to pass the filibuster-prone Senate with a simple majority.

—Jonathan Weisman

reconciliatory

ˌre-kən-ˈsil-yə-ˌtȯr-ē 

-ˈsi-lē-ə-

adjective

Examples of reconciliation in a Sentence

Signing the trade agreement was praised as an act of reconciliation between the two countries.

He contacted us in hopes of a reconciliation.

a reconciliation of opposing views

Recent Examples on the Web

The stand-off was eventually broken after Congressional Republican leaders began pursuing budget reconciliation, which kicked off Wednesday night when the House adopted a GOP resolution to eventually provide billions for immigration and deportation operations, according to The Associated Press. —Sacbee.com, 2 May 2026

However, the 2025 cost reconciliation will be partially offset by a $128 million revenue adjustment filed by ComEd in March. —Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 1 May 2026

The Republican House leader backed down after Senate GOP leaders agreed to quickly move forward with the reconciliation bill. —Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2026

Schmidt says the bill is both simplified and complicated by last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the budget reconciliation legislation that funded about 85 percent of the programs that affect national food-nutrition and ag policy. —Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English reconsiliacioun, from Anglo-French, from Latin reconciliation-, reconciliatio, from reconciliare

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for reconciliation

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration