repentant

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /rɪˈpɛntənt/ UK /rɪˈpɛntənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
feeling or expressing sincere regret for one's wrongdoing

The repentant thief returned the stolen wallet with a written apology.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · feeling or expressing... contrite penitent remorseful regretful sorry apologetic

Opposites

unrepentantimpenitent obdurate

Word family

Forms unrepentant

Derived forms repentantly

Related forms repent repentance penitent

Etymology

From Old French repentant, present participle of repentir ('to repent'), from re- (intensive) + Latin paenitere ('to cause to regret').

repentir Old French paenitere Latin paene Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# repentant

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /rɪˈpɛntənt/
**IPA (UK):** /rɪˈpɛntənt/

## Meanings
1. feeling or expressing sincere regret for one's wrongdoing

## Examples
- The repentant thief returned the stolen wallet with a written apology.

## Synonyms
- contrite
- penitent
- remorseful
- regretful
- sorry
- apologetic

## Antonyms
- unrepentant
- impenitent
- obdurate

## Derived Forms
- repentantly

## Related Forms
- repent
- repentance
- penitent

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: repentir
- Root: paenitere
- Root: paene

## Etymology
From Old French repentant, present participle of repentir ('to repent'), from re- (intensive) + Latin paenitere ('to cause to regret').

## AI Etymology
Repentant comes from Old French repentant, present participle of repentir ('to repent'), from re- (intensive) + Latin paenitere ('to cause to regret'). The historical chain includes Old French repentir, Latin paenitere, and Latin paene. Older glosses in the chain include "to repent" and "to cause to regret", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, repentant is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "feeling or expressing sincere regret for one's wrongdoing". English derivatives include repentantly; related forms include repent, repentance, and penitent. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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