Webster's English Dictionary

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penance

1. pen.ance \'pen-*n(t)s\ n [ME, fr. OF, fr. ML poenitentia penitence] 1: 
   an act of self-abasement, mortification, or devotion performed to show s 
   orrow or repentance for sin 2: a sacrament in the Roman Catholic and 
   Eastern Churches consisting in rep entance or contrition for sin, 
   confession to a priest, satisfaction as imposed by the confessor, and 
   absolution
2. penance vt : to impose penance on