Etymology

penance

pen·ance
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Today it means: A voluntary self-imposed punishment for a sinful act or wrongdoing. It may be intended to serve as reparation for the act. Full definition →

Middle English penaunce ← Old French peneance ← Latin paenitentia
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompaenitentia“repentance, penitence”
  2. Old French · derived frompeneance
  3. Middle English · inherited frompenaunce
  4. English todaypenance

From Middle English penaunce, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French peneance, from Latin paenitentia (“repentance, penitence”). Doublet of penitence.

Words from the same roots

Latinpaenitentia all →

penitentiarypenitencepenitential

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.