DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 pen·ance /ˈpɛnən(t)s/
 懺悔,悔過,贖罪,苦修(vt.)使以苦行贖罪

 Pen·ance, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Penanced ] To impose penance; to punish. “Some penanced lady elf.”
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 Pen·ance n.
 1. Repentance. [Obs.]
 2. Pain; sorrow; suffering. [Obs.] “Joy or penance he feeleth none.”
 3. Eccl. 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, imposed by a confessor or other ecclesiastical authority.  Penance is the fourth of seven sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church.
    And bitter penance, with an iron whip.   --Spenser.
 Quoth he, “The man hath penance done,
 And penance more will do.”   --Coleridge.

 penance
      n 1: remorse for your past conduct [syn: repentance, penitence]
      2: a Catholic sacrament; repentance and confession and
         satisfaction and absolution
      3: voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some
         wrongdoing [syn: self-mortification, self-abasement]