Category:Penance

Pen"ance, n. Etym: [of. penance, peneance, l. paenitentia repentance. See penitence.]

1. Repentance. [obs.] Wyclif (luke xv. 7).

2. Pain; sorrow; suffering. [obs.] "joy or penance he feeleth none." Chaucer.

3. (eccl.)

Defn: a means of repairing a sin committed, and obtaining pardon for It, consisting partly in the performance of expiatory rites, partly In voluntary submission to a punishment corresponding to the Transgression. Penance is the fourth of seven sacraments in the roman Catholic church. Schaff-herzog encyc. And bitter penance, with an iron whip. Spenser. Quoth he, "the man hath penance done, and penance more will do." Coleridge.

Penance Pen"ance, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penanced.]

Defn: to impose penance; to punish. "some penanced lady elf." Keats.