I picked a group of synonyms that correspond to today's other post:
Repentance - implies the full realization of one's sins or wrongs and a will to change one's ways
Penitence - implies sorrow over wrongdoing
(Quite frankly, these two words have some of the murkiest etymology I've encountered. Both come from the Latin paenitere = to repent...which is "probably" akin to paene = scarcely...which also happens to be the origin of the word passion. I have a hard time connecting any of these words to "scarcely"! Anyone out there see a connection that I don't?)
Penitence - implies sorrow over wrongdoing
(Quite frankly, these two words have some of the murkiest etymology I've encountered. Both come from the Latin paenitere = to repent...which is "probably" akin to paene = scarcely...which also happens to be the origin of the word passion. I have a hard time connecting any of these words to "scarcely"! Anyone out there see a connection that I don't?)
Contrition - implies a deep, crushing sorrow for one's sins with a true purpose of amendment (From the Latin contritio = grief; from the Latin contritus = worn out, ground to pieces; from the Latin conterere: con = together, + terere = to grind)
Compunction - implies a pricking of the conscience and suggests a sharp but passing feeling of uneasiness about wrongdoing (From the Latin compungere: com = used as an intensifier + pungere = to prick or sting)
Compunction - implies a pricking of the conscience and suggests a sharp but passing feeling of uneasiness about wrongdoing (From the Latin compungere: com = used as an intensifier + pungere = to prick or sting)
Remorse - implies a deep and torturing sense of guilt (From the Latin remordere: re = again + mordere = to bite)
Regret - refers to sorrow over an unfortunate event or wrong action (From Middle English regretten = to bewail the dead, from re = again + OE gretan = to weep)
4 comments:
maybe it's related to poena.
yup.
from the OED, see the last line:
[< Middle French penitent (French pénitent) that repents (c1370; 1357 of God; earlier in Old French as noun in an isolated attestation in sense ‘punishment’), (of a thing) expressive of repentance (1603), person who repents (1496), member of a lay confraternity practising repentance (1598) and its etymon classical Latin paenitent-, paenitns that repents, person who repents, in post-classical Latin specifically in Christian context (Vetus Latina as noun, 5th cent. in inscriptions as adjective), uses as adjective and noun of present participle of paenitre (also pnitre, poenitre: see note) to repent, to cause to repent, to cause dissatisfaction, originally as an impersonal verb, generally thought to be related to paene almost (see PENE- prefix), perhaps via an unattested adjective *paenitus. Middle French penitent was originally a learned form in ecclesiastical use, which gradually displaced peneant, penant (see PENANT n.). In sense B. 5 after Spanish penitente (see PENITENTE n. 2).
The Latin form paenitere is recorded in inscriptions from the 1st cent. A.D. and in MSS of classical Latin authors; penitere in inscriptions from the 5th cent. A.D. and (less frequently than paenitere) in MSS of classical Latin authors; poenitere only in medieval MSS (probably influenced by classical Latin poena penalty, punishment: see POENA n.).]
Etymology of Poena:
[< classical Latin poena penalty, punishment, satisfaction, revenge, unpleasant consequence, in post-classical Latin also suffering, affliction (4th cent.) < ancient Greek blood-money, fine, penalty, satisfaction, reward < the same Indo-European base as Avestan kaen vengeance, reparation and, with a different ablaut grade, Old Church Slavonic cna, Russian cena, and Lithuanian kaina all in sense ‘price’. Compare earlier POENA DAMNI n., SUBPNA n. Compare earlier PAIN n.1
You're a genius! Or maybe just resourceful. :)
I too had wondered if there was a connection with poena, but couldn't find it anywhere...I looked in all my English and Latin dictionaries! Guess I need to get myself a copy of the OED, huh?
Now it all makes sense. I hate when the etymology of a word uses the translated word as the definition (i.e. repent comes from paenitere which means to repent!), so this one was really bugging me.
I bow at your feet, Master LeCroy.
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