'Penitence' definitions:
Definition of 'penitence'
(from WordNet)
noun
Remorse for your past conduct [syn: repentance, penitence, penance]
Definition of 'Penitence'
From: GCIDE
- Penitence \Pen"i*tence\, n. [F. p['e]nitence, L. paenitentia. See Penitent, and cf. Penance.] The quality or condition of being penitent; the disposition of a penitent; sorrow for sins or faults; repentance; contrition. "Penitence of his old guilt." --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- Death is deferred, and penitenance has room To mitigate, if not reverse, the doom. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: Repentance; contrition; compunction. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'penitence'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abject apology,
- acknowledgment,
- anguish,
- apology,
- asceticism,
- attrition,
- breast-beating,
- change of heart,
- cold purgatorial fires,
- compunction,
- confession,
- contriteness,
- contrition,
- Day of Atonement,
- deathbed repentance,
- debasement,
- degradation,
- distress,
- excuse,
- fasting,
- flagellation,
- grief,
- hair shirt,
- heartfelt apology,
- humbling,
- humiliation,
- lustration,
- maceration,
- mea culpa,
- mortification,
- penance,
- penitential act,
- penitential exercise,
- penitently,
- purgation,
- purgatory,
- qualm,
- reformation,
- regret,
- regretfulness,
- regrets,
- remorse,
- remorsefulness,
- repentance,
- rue,
- ruefulness,
- ruth,
- sackcloth and ashes,
- sadness,
- saeta,
- scruple,
- self-accusation,
- self-punishment,
- self-reproach,
- shame,
- sorrow,
- sorrowfulness,
- wearing a hairshirt,
- Yom Kippur