noun
penance
PEN-uns/ˈpenəns/
An act of self-denial or punishment undertaken to show repentance or make amends.
The remorseful person undertakes penance by kneeling in prayer with rosary beads.
Etymology
The ancestor means “repentance,” an inward feeling of remorse. Penance gives that remorse outward form through religious discipline or self-punishment performed as a token of repentance and atonement.
In context
feel the guilt of the wrongdoing and pay a little penance to look at and go, I don't want to feel this again. I don't want to do that action again
More examples
- The priest asks her to say three prayers as penance.
- As penance for breaking the window, I offer to clean the garage.
- His self-imposed penances include fasting and sleeping on the floor.
Forms
penance · penances
penitential adjective — Intended to express repentance for wrongdoing.
Similar words
- atonement
- Emphasizes making amends, rather than a particular self-imposed punishment.
- reparation
- Focuses on repairing harm rather than undergoing personal punishment.