repentancen.
/rᵻˈpɛnt(ə)ns/, U.S. /rəˈpɛntns/, /riˈpɛntns/ 1. The action of repenting; an instance of this. Also: the state of being repentant.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > reform, amendment, or correction > repentance or contrition > [noun]
reusingeOE
rueeOE
ruenessOE
bireusingc1000
penitencea1200
rutha1200
after-charc1220
again-charc1220
ruesomenessa1225
ofthinkingc1225
forthinkinga1250
repentancec1300
penancea1325
pityc1330
compunctiona1340
agenbite1340
repentingc1350
athinking1382
contritionc1386
repentaillec1390
rueinga1400
remorse of conscience (also mind)c1410
conscience?a1425
remorsea1425
penitencya1500
penitudea1538
resipiscency?c1550
penancy?1567
resipiscence1570
repent1573
brokennessa1617
remorsefulnessa1617
synteresy1616
synderesis1639
heart-searching1647
synteresis1650
remordency1658
contriteness1692
resentment1705
penitentness1727
society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > penitence > [noun]
reusingeOE
deedbotec1000
sin-bootc1175
penitencea1200
repentancec1300
penancea1325
compunctiona1340
repentingc1350
contritionc1386
repentaillec1390
remorse of conscience (also mind)c1410
penitencya1500
penitudea1538
penancy?1567
repent1573
metanoia1577
remorsefulnessa1617
synteresy1616
synderesis1639
synteresis1650
remordency1658
sermon-sicknessa1665
contriteness1692
penitentness1727
c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) 2257 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 171 (MED) Þo þe Cardinales i-seiȝen..þat he to repentaunce drouȝ, heo a-soileden him.
c1350 Apocalypse St. John: A Version (Harl. 874) (1961) 156 (MED) Þat hij leyden poudre on her heuedes bitokneþ..late repentaunce.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 4958 Ȝour repentanse [Vesp. repenting] es comen ouer late.
a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 1308 At o word with-outen repentaunce, wel-come my knyght, my pes, my suffisaunce.
1447 O. Bokenham Lives of Saints (Arun.) (1938) l. 277 She steryd the pepyl euere to repentaunce.
1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Bi v Wepynges & teares somtyme of deuocion somtyme of repentaunce.
a1591 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 220 Repentance is never too late, but it is a true saying, repentance is never too soon.
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster v. iii. sig. L4v In time [they] should him feare, Least after they buy Repentance too deare. View more context for this quotation
a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) iii. 120 What patience could be content to..accept of repentances which must have after penitences, his goodness can only tell us.
a1774 A. Tucker Light of Nature Pursued (1777) III. i. 169 The Romish doctors reckon three stages in the passage from vice to virtue: Attrition, Contrition, and Repentance.
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab v. 71 Bitterness of soul, Pining regrets, and vain repentances.
1881 W. Besant & J. Rice Chaplain of Fleet I. vii. 159 The morning is the time for repentance.
1918 Trans. Royal Hist. Soc. 4 1 199 The drunken old reprobate Sir H. Morgan, whose repentance of his buccaneering past seemed to have been only skin-deep.
1988 J. L. Esposito Islam i. 32 Repentance is simply remembering or returning to God's path, the straight path of Islam.
2003 Baptist Times 9 Oct. 8/3 If you come from a background that says you can notch off these debts by doing certain things, it doesn't come down to personal repentance.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > righteousness or rectitude > reform, amendment, or correction > repentance or contrition > [noun] > personified
repentancec1400
c1400 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Trin. Cambr. R.3.14) (1960) A. v. 43 (MED) Þanne repentaunce..made wil to wepe watir wiþ his eiȝen.
a1513 W. Dunbar Ballat Passioun in Poems (1998) I. 38 Repentence ay with cheikis wait No..pennence did eschew.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. i. 70 Then comes Repentance, and with his bad legs falls into the cinquepace. View more context for this quotation
1692 E. Walker tr. Epictetus Enchiridion lv Joy in a nimble moment ends its Race And rueful, pale Repentance takes its Place.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones VI. xviii. x. 260 Unavailable Repentance treads on his Heels.
1798 W. Wordsworth Peter Bell Prol. xxx Repentance is a tender Sprite.
Phrases
P1.
stool of repentance n. (also †stool for repentance, †seat of repentance) now historical a stool formerly placed in a conspicuous position in some Scottish churches, on which was seated a person required to make a public display of repentance for a sin, esp. a sin involving extramarital sex; also in extended use; cf. repenting stool n. at repenting n. Compounds, cutty-stool n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > [noun] > of repentance
penitent form1563
repenting stool1567
stool of repentance1581
place of repentance1582
repentance stool1591
repentance seat1771
cutty-stoola1774
Mercy seat1818
anxious seat1827
anxious bench1832
mourner's bench1834
mourner's seat1845
moaner's bench1929
1581 in A. J. Mill Mediaeval Plays in Scotl. (1927) 279 [They are to] present thame self in the seat off repentance thair to remaine the Sabbothe day in tyme off sermond.
1591 in S. Ree Rec. Elgin (1908) II. 17 That euerie persoun that..makis ony bein..fyiris..sall stand in sakclothe thre seuerall Sondayis vpoun the stuill of repentance.
1647 in Jrnl. Royal Soc. Antiquaries Ireland (1901) 31 271 To Adam McNeilis for dressing ye stoole of repentance, 02s. 5d.
1690 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 120 They are setting up the stool of repentance in their churches as formerly, where people guilty of incontinency are to doe pennance.
1704 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion III. xiii. 308 To stand publickly in the Stool of Repentance, acknowledging their former transgressions.
1780 R. B. Sheridan School for Scandal ii. iii. 24 He has been just half a year on the stool of repentance.
1814 W. Scott Waverley II. vii. 122 D'ye think the lads..will care for..yere stool o' repentance ? View more context for this quotation
1834 J. Blackie tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust iv. vi. 160 'Tis time she should submit to rule And penance do on the repentance-stool!
1884 Christian World 2 Oct. 737/1 The Times..seats itself as it were in shame on the stool of repentance.
1920 M. Webb House in Dormer Forest (2004) i. ii. 24 She remembered him as a small boy having been placed on the stool of repentance by Mrs. Cantlop—who had taught them all.
1997 C. Shaw Sc. Myths & Customs i. 30 Girls who had borne illegitimate children were dressed in sackcloth and stood on the stool of repentance every Sunday as a public punishment.
P2.
place of repentance n. now historical (more fully public place of repentence) a conspicuous place, such as a seat, bench, or raised platform, formerly used in some Scottish churches for displays of repentance; cf. stool of repentance n. at Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > [noun] > of repentance
penitent form1563
repenting stool1567
stool of repentance1581
place of repentance1582
repentance stool1591
repentance seat1771
cutty-stoola1774
Mercy seat1818
anxious seat1827
anxious bench1832
mourner's bench1834
mourner's seat1845
moaner's bench1929
1582 Edinb. Dean of Guild Accts. 148 in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) For nallis to naill the pilleris of the gavaill of the place of repentance.
1596 in T. Thomson Acts & Proc. Kirk of Scotl. (1845) III. 866 The publick place of repentance is turned in a mocking.
1651 Ayr Presbytery Rec. in Little Sc. World (1894) iv. 43 The flooring and gisting to be directly the height of the place of repentance.
1710 T. Boston Serm. 13 July in Memoirs (1776) App. 3 What with fornications, what with adulteries, the place of repentence has been seldom empty since the planting of this parish.
1885 A. Edgar Old Church Life I. 287 When the scandal was great he had to mount an elevated stand, technically designated the public place of repentance.
2003 M. Lynch Edinb. & Reformation (new ed.) App. vii. 324 [He was] ordered to appear in the place of repentance April 1574 as a relapsed fornicator.
Compounds
repentance-gown n. now historical a garment made of coarse fabric required to be worn by a person making a public display of repentance in some Scottish churches.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > lay garments > items of attire > [noun] > penitential garment
hairec825
cilicec950
sackc1000
hauberkc1305
habergeonc1386
sackclotha1400
shirt of hair1527
shriving cloth1534
haircloth1548
sanbenito1568
white sheet1570
penitential robea1625
sack gown1693
samarra1731
hair-shirt1737
repentance-gown1896
1896 A. M. Earle Curious Punishm. Bygone Days ix. 107 Sometimes the offender wore a repentance-gown of sackcloth; more frequently he stood or sat barefoot and barelegged.
1899 W. Andrews Bygone Church Life Scotl. 112 The Synods specially enjoined on all parishes the procuring of a repentance-gown.
repentance seat n. now historical = repentance stool n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > [noun] > of repentance
penitent form1563
repenting stool1567
stool of repentance1581
place of repentance1582
repentance stool1591
repentance seat1771
cutty-stoola1774
Mercy seat1818
anxious seat1827
anxious bench1832
mourner's bench1834
mourner's seat1845
moaner's bench1929
1771 in Sc. Hist. Rev. 4 65 To fill the vacant space where the Repentance Seat formerly was, with Pews.
1961 F. Thistlethwaite Great Experiment v. 121 The camp meeting, with its several days' session, its repentance-seat, its hymn- singing and the violent exhortation of its ministers, induced a state of ecstatic trance.
repentance stool n. now historical = stool of repentance n. at Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > [noun] > of repentance
penitent form1563
repenting stool1567
stool of repentance1581
place of repentance1582
repentance stool1591
repentance seat1771
cutty-stoola1774
Mercy seat1818
anxious seat1827
anxious bench1832
mourner's bench1834
mourner's seat1845
moaner's bench1929
1591 in A. J. Mill Mediaeval Plays in Scotl. (1927) 281 [Offenders are] to stand on the keikstwl and repentance stwle thair to declair thair offence.
1670 in J. Hunter Diocese & Presbytery Dunkeld (1918) I. 380 Betuixt the laird of Bamffe's seat and the middest of the pillar wher the repentance stool now stands.
1701 Ld. Fountainhall Decisions (1761) II. 132 Craves that he may stand in sackcloth at the Kirk-door, and sit on the repentance-stool.
c1765 Collection Scot. Poems 68 Tague..told him, he behoved to do penance on the repentance stool.
1869 C. Rogers Scotl. vii. 352 On the repentance stool, delinquents generally stood up, but in certain parishes they were permitted to sit upon it.
1987 C. E. Brown Social Hist. Relig. in Scotl. iv. 96 At Auchinleck in the same county the repentance stool was discreetly sited under a gallery.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1300