1. adjective
a) Feeling pain or sorrow on account of sins or offenses; repentant; contrite; sincerely affected by a sense of guilt, and resolved on amendment of life.
If thou be penitent and grieved, or desirous to be so, these heinous sins shall not be laid to thy charge.
b) Doing penance.
2. noun
a) One who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of his transgressions.
Wamba, who defeated the Saracens in an attempt upon Spain, was deprived of the crown, because he had been clothed in the habit of a penitent, while labouring under the influence of poison, administered by the ambitious Erviga!
Syn: penaunt
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