penitent

• pænitent (archaic)
• penitant (obsolete)
• pœnitent (archaic, nonstandard)

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin paenitēns, poenitēns (“penitent”), present participle of paeniteō, poeniteō (“I cause to repent; I regret, repent”). Doublet of penitente.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɛnɪtənt/

• Audio (US)

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penitent (comparative more penitent, superlative most penitent)

1. Feeling pain or sorrow on account of one's sins or offenses; feeling sincere guilt.

   Synonyms: repentant, contrite; see also Thesaurus:remorseful

   • 1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:

     Be penitent, and for thy fault contrite.

   • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC:

     If thou be penitent and grieved, or desirous to be so, these heinous sins shall not be laid to thy charge.

2. Doing penance.
   • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     […] But we that know what ’tis to faſt and pray, / Are penitent for your default to day.

penitent (plural penitents)

1. One who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of their transgressions.
2. One under church censure, but admitted to penance; one undergoing penance.

   Hyponym: consistent

   • 1837, William Russell, The History of Modern Europe: with an Account of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Longman, Rees, & Co., page 20:

     Wamba, who defeated the Saracens in an attempt upon Spain, was deprived of the crown, because he had been clothed in the habit of a penitent, while labouring under the influence of poison, administered by the ambitious Erviga!

3. One under the direction of a confessor.

• “penitent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “penitent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “penitent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

• IPA^(key): /pɛˈɲi.tɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -itɛnt
• Syllabification: pe‧ni‧tent

Internationalism; compare English penitent, French pénitent, German Pönitent, ultimately from Latin poenitēns.

penitent m pers (female equivalent penitentka)

1. (Roman Catholicism) penitent (who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of their transgressions)

Borrowed from English penitente, from French penitente, from Spanish (nieve) penitente.

penitent m inan

1. penitente (tall thin blade of hardened snow or ice, found closely spaced in large quantities at high altitudes)

• penitent in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• penitent in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from French pénitent, from Latin poenitens.

penitent m or n (feminine singular penitentă, masculine plural penitenți, feminine and neuter plural penitente)

1. penitent