Etymologically
Log in

paeniteo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 19:13. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [pae̯ˈnɪ.te.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [peˈniː.te.o][1]

Forms

paeniteō (present infinitive paenitēre, perfect active paenituī, future active participle paenitūrus); second conjugation, no supine stem except in the future active participle[1] Less correctly poeniteō, and Accius and Sallust have the future participle paenitūrus.[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain, and the OLD and Wiktionary compare paene “almost” and paenūria “want”, so “to be lacking, dissatisfied”.[2][1] De Vaan thinks the basic sense of the stem ⟨paen-⟩ was “missing, lacking”.[4] Lewis & Short connected it instead with poena “penalty”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation for the personal sense “to regret” is from Pacuvius.[2] Köbler dates Pacuvius 220–130 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

Mostly impersonal, mē paenitet meant “it gives me cause for dissatisfaction”, “I am not content with”, and then “I regret, I repent of” something one has done; personally it meant to feel regret, think better of something, as in Pacuvius.[2][3]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to repent, be sorry, rue, grieve, and also to cause to repent.[6]

Timeline

  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it.[2][5]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses paenitūrus.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (impersonal) To cause dissatisfaction: mē paenitet I am dissatisfied with.[2]
  2. (impersonal) To cause regret: mē paenitet I regret, repent.[2]
  3. To feel regret, think better of.[2]

Word family

  • impaenitendus
  • impaenitēns
  • impaenitentia
  • impaenitus
  • paenitenter
  • paenitentia
  • paenitentiālis
  • paenitūdō
  • repoeniteō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson