Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “penance” come from?

Penance comes from Middle English penaunce, from Old French peneance, from Latin paenitentia, the noun form of paenitens, from the verb paeniteo, ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root peh₁-.

penance (English): A voluntary self-imposed punishment for a sinful...

Definitions

  1. A voluntary self-imposed punishment for a sinful...

Ancestry of “penance”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishpenauncepenance
2Old Frenchpeneance—
3Latinpaenitentiarepentance, penitence, regret; penance;...
4Ancient Greekμετάνοιαafterthought, repentance
5Ancient Greekμετανοέωto perceive afterwards or too late; to change...
6Ancient Greekνοέωto perceive, observe, see, notice; to think,...
7Ancient Greekνόοςmind; an act of mind; the sense or meaning of a...
8Ancient Greekσφαῖραball, globe, sphere
9Ancient Greek-ειδήςlike, connected to, from the nature of, full of;...
10Ancient Greek-ήςadjective suffix
11Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
12Proto-Indo-European-ess—
13Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “penance”

  • penanceless
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →