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penitence

noun

Etymology

First attested circa 13th century, from Middle English penitence, from Old French penitence, from Latin paenitentia (“repentance, penitence”), from paenitēns (“penitent”), present active participle of paeniteō (“regret, repent”). Equivalent to penitent + -ence. Doublet of penance.

  1. derived from paenitentia
  2. derived from penitence
  3. inherited from penitence

Definitions

  1. The condition of being penitent

    The condition of being penitent; a feeling of regret or remorse for doing wrong or sinning.

    • an assassin who misses his aim and flounders into penitence much as that discomfortable drama misses its point and stumbles into vacuity
    • As for the moral turpitude that man unveiled to me, even with tears of penitence, I cannot, even in memory, dwell on it without a start of horror.
    • Away, Remorse! / Compunction, hence!. / Go, Moral Force! / Go, Penitence!

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for penitence. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA