noun, plural -ries, adjective | 1. | a place for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment, esp. a prison maintained in the U.S. by a state or the federal government for serious offenders. |
| 2. | 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. |
| 3. | (of an offense) punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary. |
| 4. | of, pertaining to, or intended for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment. |
| 5. | penitential. |