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Definition of penance - 6 dictionary results

pen⋅ance

  [pen-uhns]
Use penance in a Sentence
–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.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME penaunce < AF; OF peneance < L paenitentia penitence

Related forms:
pen⋅ance⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pen·ance   (pěn'əns)   
n.  
  1. An act of self-mortification or devotion performed voluntarily to show sorrow for a sin or other wrongdoing.
  2. A sacrament in some Christian churches that includes contrition, confession to a priest, acceptance of punishment, and absolution. Also called reconciliation.
tr.v.   pen·anced, pen·anc·ing, pen·anc·es
To impose penance upon.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin paenitentia, penitence, from paenitēns, paenitent-, penitent; see penitent.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Penance

Pen"ance\, n. [OF. penance, peneance, L. paenitentia repentance. See Penitence.]

1. Repentance. [Obs.] --Wyclif (Luke xv. 7).

2. Pain; sorrow; suffering. [Obs.] "Joy or penance he feeleth none." --Chaucer.

3. (Eccl.) A means of repairing a sin committed, and obtaining pardon for it, consisting partly in the performance of expiatory rites, partly in voluntary submission to a punishment corresponding to the transgression. Penance is the fourth of seven sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. --Schaff-Herzog Encyc.

And bitter penance, with an iron whip. --Spenser.

Quoth he, "The man hath penance done, And penance more will do." --Coleridge.

Penance

Pen"ance\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penanced.] To impose penance; to punish. "Some penanced lady elf." --Keats.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : penance
Spanish: penitencia,
German: die Buße,
Japanese: 償い
More Translations »

penance

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

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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penance 
c.1290, "religious discipline or self-mortification as a token of repentance and as atonement for some sin," from Anglo-Fr. penaunce, O.Fr. penance, from L. pænitentia (see penitence). Transf. sense is recorded from c.1305.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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