Definition of "penitence" [pen•i•tence]

• The condition or quality of being penitent; regret for wrongdoing. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The publicity of their penitence is also implied (compare Jer 7: 29; 48: 38)."
• "I have written this account in penitence and in grief, as a man who failed to raise his pig, and to explain my deviation from the classic course of so many raised pigs."
• "What ... so I should, uh, flagellate myself in penitence?"