The story
- Latin · derived frompaenitēns
- English todaypenitent
From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin paenitēns, poenitēns (“penitent”), present participle of paeniteō, poeniteō (“to cause to repent; to regret, repent”). Doublet of penitente.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.