locus poenitentiae

noun

The opportunity to withdraw from an ongoing process of committing oneself to an obligation, before such commitment is finalized; specifically, the opportunity to abstain from committing an intended crime before it is too late.

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Meanings

nounlocus poenitentiae (uncountable)
  1. uncountablelawThe opportunity to withdraw from an ongoing process of committing oneself to an obligation, before such commitment is finalized; specifically, the opportunity to abstain from committing an intended crime before it is too late.
    1 more example

    There was yet within him the means of repentance, could a locus penitentiæ^([sic]) have been supplied to him. He grieved bitterly over his own ill doings, and knew well what changes gentlehood would have demanded from him. Whether or no he had gone too far for all changes—whether the locus penitentiæ was for him still a possibility—that was between him and a higher power.

    1860 January – 1861 April, Anthony Trollope, “The Philistines at the Parsonage”, in Framley Parsonage. […] (Collection of British Authors; 551), copyright edition, volume I, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published April 1861, →OCLC, page 250

Origin

From Latin, literally "place of repentance".

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

locus poenitentiae. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/locus%20poenitentiae

MLA

“locus poenitentiae.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/locus%20poenitentiae. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “locus poenitentiae,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/locus%20poenitentiae.

Source: locus poenitentiae on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.