penitentiary
Americannoun
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a place for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment, especially a prison maintained in the U.S. by a state or the federal government for serious offenders.
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Roman Catholic Church. a tribunal in the Curia Romana, presided over by a cardinal grand penitentiary, having jurisdiction over certain matters, as penance, confession, dispensation, absolution, and impediments, and dealing with questions of conscience reserved for the Holy See.
adjective
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(of an offense) punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary.
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of, relating to, or intended for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment.
noun
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Sometimes shortened to: pen. (in the US and Canada) a state or federal prison: in Canada, esp a federal prison for offenders convicted of serious crimes
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RC Church
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a cleric appointed to supervise the administration of the sacrament of penance in a particular area
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a priest who has special faculties to absolve particularly grave sins
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a cardinal who presides over a tribunal that decides all matters affecting the sacrament of penance
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this tribunal itself
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adjective
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another word for penitential
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(of an offence) punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary
Usage
What does penitentiary mean? A penitentiary is a prison, especially a state or federal prison in the United States or Canada. Penitentiaries typically house criminals who have committed major crimes. The word is often used in formal contexts. In less formal and slang usage, it is often shortened to pen or the pen, such as in the phrase state pen (a penitentiary run by a state government, as opposed to the federal government). It is sometimes used as an adjective describing related things. Less commonly, the word is used as the name of a special type of Roman Catholic tribunal. Example: If convicted, your client is facing a life sentence in a federal penitentiary.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of penitentiary
1375–1425; late Middle English penitenciarie priest who administers penance, prison < Medieval Latin pēnitēntiārius of penance. See penitence, -ary
Explanation
A penitentiary is a prison for big-time criminals convicted of big-time crimes. Commit a serious crime like a murder and you won't just go to jail; you'll be sent to the penitentiary. Penitentiary comes from the Latin paenitentia, meaning "repentance." A penitentiary is a place you are sent to make repentance for a crime committed. Penitentiary can also be used as an adjective to describe something done to show penance, as in the penitentiary scarlet "A" on Hester Prynne's chest. In the Roman Catholic Church, a penitentiary is a priest who administers the sacrament of penance, or hears people's confessions.
Vocabulary lists containing penitentiary
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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.
See Examples For:
The government opened the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz in 1934, hoping to use the remote island to house particularly difficult prisoners, according to the National Park Service.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
At least 30 prisoners were released Monday from the Rodeo I penitentiary east of Caracas to scenes of joy from waiting relatives.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
Early last year, prison officials transferred Hernández out of the federal detention center in Brooklyn, which largely holds pretrial detainees, and sent him to the high-security Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2026
"Georgian authorities put human-centered approach at the heart of the penitentiary reform to ensure the healthy management of prison system," it said in a statement.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2025
Scores of civil rights leaders were arrested and sent to serve life sentences in the maximum-security penitentiary on Robben Island, in the cold Atlantic Ocean.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
Still, Mr Ramey said the low pay is more than a California prisoner would otherwise earn performing jobs in the state penitentiaries.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2025
Time served for the state convictions will run at the same time as the federal sentences, and the men will serve their time in federal penitentiaries.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2024
But now, he is resisting calls from criminal justice advocates and liberal state lawmakers to shutter five more penitentiaries.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
According to the Prison Policy Initiative, more than 1 million people are held in state penitentiaries, of which 71% will be re-arrested within three to five years after committing additional offenses.
From Reuters ● Aug. 2, 2023
That has been true since penitentiaries first opened in America.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
