impenitent

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peh₁-“to hate; to hurt”
2. Latin · derived fromimpaenitentem
3. Middle English · inherited fromimpenitent“not penitent, unrepentant”
4. English todayimpenitent

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English impenitent (“not penitent, unrepentant”), from Latin impaenitentem, the accusative feminine or masculine singular of impaenitēns (“unrepentant”), from im- (a variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + paenitēns (“contrite, penitent, regretting, repenting”) (the present active participle of paeniteō (“to be sorry, regret; to cause to repent; to repent”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate; to hurt”)). By surface analysis, im- + penitent. The noun is derived from the adjective.

Words from the same roots