repent

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English repenten,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French repentir, with the Anglo-Norman variant repenter,^[6][3][7][8] which is formed from re-, probably intensive here, and pentir (“to be sorry”),^{[8][9][3][10][4]} from Vulgar Latin *paenitiō (“to regret”), an altered form of Latin paeniteō (“to make sorry, to be sorry”).^{[7][8][10][11]} The OED instead derives the French verb from Medieval Latin repoeniteō (9th century), formed from re- and the same Latin verb.^[6] Etymonline connects the Latin verb with poena (“penalty”),^[3] while Weekley took it to be cognate with paene (“almost”).^[11] In Anglo-Norman the verb is recorded from 1113–19 for repenting of sin and for regretting;^[12] in French it was first reflexive, to renounce something or to feel contrition (about 1100), and it is now only reflexive.^[6][11] Related Romance verbs are Spanish arrepentirse, Portuguese arrepender and Italian ripentirsi.^[6] It is related to penitent and penitence.^[10][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To feel contrition or regret for what one has done, especially for sin: about 1300, in the life of Saint Brendan in the South English Legendary, and reflexively in the same years.^[6][3] Barnhart dates the sense "to regret, be sorry" to probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English repent covered both religious contrition and ordinary regret: from about 1380 it was used of anything one regrets for its unwelcome consequences.^[6][2] It was also used impersonally from about 1300, as in it repenteth me,^[3][6] which the King James Bible keeps in Genesis 6:6, "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth".^[3] Chaucer used the verb 43 times.^[13] Weekley notes that the reflexive repent oneself was the usual construction in the Authorized Version, and that the borrowing has nearly displaced the native rue.^[11] A noun repent, repentance, was used from 1573 to 1601, as in Spenser's "Reproch the first, Shame next, Repent behinde".^[6][14] Spenser also used the verb for "to mourn" (1590).^[6] Etymonline stresses that to repent is to regret so deeply as to change one's mind or conduct.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – to feel contrition or regret for one's actions or sins; also reflexive.^[6][3]
• before 1325 – transitive, with the sin or fault as object.^[6]
• c. 1380 – to regret something because of its consequences.^[6][2]
• before 1393 – to cause someone to feel regret, chiefly as it repents me, in Gower.^[6]
• 1573 – noun, repentance (obsolete by 1601).^[6]
• 1590 – to mourn, in Spenser (obsolete).^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To feel sincere regret and remorse for one's wrongdoing, especially to turn from sin and resolve to change one's life: He repented of his cruelty before he died.^[4][15][6]
2. To feel sorry for or regret (an action): She soon repented her hasty reply.^[15][6][4]
3. To regret a choice or act because of its unwelcome results.^[6][2]
4. To cause (someone) to feel regret, usually with it as subject: it repents me.^[6][3]
5. (archaic) Reflexive, repent oneself: to feel contrition.^[14][6]

Noun

1. (obsolete, 1573–1601) Repentance.^[6][14]

Word family

• repenter
• repentingly
• unrepented
• unrepenting

Related words

• penance
• penitence
• penitent
• penitentiary
• repentance
• repentant
• penal

Usage notes

Etymonline notes that many modern languages distinguish regret from repent, but that older periods did not: to repent is to regret so deeply that one changes one's mind or way of life.^[3] The proverb marry in haste, repent at leisure keeps the ordinary sense of regret.^[4]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
13. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
14. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins