penitence
Americannoun
Related Words
See regret.
Etymology
Origin of penitence
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English (from Old French ) from Medieval Latin pēnitentia, Latin paenitentia “a regretting, repentance.” See penitent, -ence
Explanation
Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone feels bad about it afterward, and if you’re someone who has regretted something you did, that sorrowful feeling was penitence. Penitence shares the same Latin root as the verb repent, which means “to express regret.” It’s also connected to the word penitentiary, another word for prison. Sometimes penitence is so painful you might think you deserve to be in prison. The good news is that unless you committed a serious crime, you can probably apologize and that display of penitence is usually enough for forgiveness. Be careful: although the last half sounds like tense, it’s actually spelled with a c.
Vocabulary lists containing penitence
The Crucible
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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A Christmas Carol
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Demski agrees to a point - when the company started off, many of its first beers had aggressive names such as Anger, Penitence, Distorter and Doom Slayer, and Holewczynski created dark labels to match.
From Washington Times • Dec. 21, 2016
Penitence finally arrived at the six-minute mark, when forward Marcus Johansson fumbled Brouwer’s errant pass off his skate and sparked an odd-man rush the other way.
From Washington Post • Apr. 15, 2015
Penitence was seriously enacted; payments were made; serious apologies were enacted.
From Time • May 25, 2014
In Joachim Patinir’s triptych “The Penitence of Saint Jerome,” from around 1518, a panorama of mountain lakes stretching to the lambent horizon dwarfs the religious dramas transpiring within it.
From New York Times • May 23, 2013
The place was only visible from; the belfry of the Chapel of the Holy Penitence nearby; it would do very well.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
