penitent
/ˈpɛnɪtənt/ adjective, noun
Forms penitents pænitent penitant pœnitent
- adjective Feeling pain or sorrow on account of one's sins or offenses; feeling sincere guilt.
- adjective Doing penance.
- noun One who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of their transgressions.
- noun One under church censure, but admitted to penance; one undergoing penance.
- noun One under the direction of a confessor.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin paenitēns, poenitēns (“penitent”), present participle of paeniteō, poeniteō (“to cause to repent; to regret, repent”). Doublet of penitente.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Feeling pain or sorrow on account of sins or offenses; repentant; contrite; sincerely affected by a sense of guilt, and resolved on amendment of life.
- adjective Doing penance. [Obs.] Shak.
- noun One who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of his transgressions.
- noun One under church censure, but admitted to penance; one undergoing penance.
Etymology [F. pénitent, L. paenitens, -entis, poenitens, p.pr. of paenitere, poenitere, to cause to repent, to repent; prob. akin to poena punishment. See Pain.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “penitent”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details