penance

American  

[pen-uhns] / ˈpɛn əns /

noun

1. a punishment undergone in token of penitence for sin.

2. a penitential discipline imposed by church authority.

3. a sacrament, as in the Roman Catholic Church, consisting in a confession of sin, made with sorrow and with the intention of amendment, followed by the forgiveness of the sin.

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penance British  

/ ˈpɛnəns /

noun

1. voluntary self-punishment to atone for a sin, crime, etc

2. a feeling of regret for one's wrongdoings

3. Christianity

   1. a punishment usually consisting of prayer, fasting, etc, undertaken voluntarily as an expression of penitence for sin

   2. a punishment of this kind imposed by church authority as a condition of absolution

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verb

1. (tr) (of ecclesiastical authorities) to impose a penance upon (a sinner)

penance Cultural  

1. Acts done to make up for sin. (See confession and indulgence.)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• penanceless
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of penance

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English penaunce, from Anglo-French; Old French peneance, from Latin paenitentia penitence

Explanation

Penance is the act of doing a good deed to make up for past wrongs. Shoveling your neighbor's sidewalk all winter could be your penance for not helping rake the leaves that dropped from your tree into his yard during the fall. Although the noun penance can mean any remorse for past mistakes, or any voluntary action meant to right the wrong, Penance, with a capital P, also specifically refers to a sacrament in the Catholic Church. When a person receives Penance, he or she confesses sins to a priest, and along with a blessing, receives an order to do something, such as say certain prayers. This assignment is also called penance.

Example Sentences

There are the shamefaced former members, who confess their gullibility as a kind of penance; there are the cockamamie claims on which the belief system is based.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

“I write to make amends,” she reflects, describing a lifetime of studying Cuba as a kind of penance for what she calls being “the chosen one” that spring day in 1963.

From Los Angeles Times • May 19, 2026

As if doing penance for the past, all four of the film’s stars are associated with superhero franchises.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026

They straddle the line between indulgence and wellness, pleasure and penance.

From Salon • May 19, 2025

“The penance was to wear the hair shirt of a certain dead religious that we knew of,” he went on at last, defeated.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Related Words

• absolution
• atonement
• contrition
• forgiveness
• penitence
• remorse
• repentance
• retribution