penitent

Meanings

Adjective

• Feeling pain or sorrow on account of one's sins or offenses; feeling sincere guilt.
• Doing penance.

Noun

• One who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of his or her transgressions.
• One under church censure, but admitted to penance; one undergoing penance.
• One under the direction of a confessor.

Origin

• From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin paenitēns, poenitēns, present participle of paeniteō, poeniteō.