repent

From Middle English repenten, from Old French repentir, from Vulgar Latin *repaenitīre, from Late Latin paenitīre, from Classical Latin paenitēre. Compare Modern French repentir.

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈpɛnt/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -ɛnt

repent (third-person singular simple present repents, present participle repenting, simple past and past participle repented)

1. (intransitive) To feel pain, sorrow, or regret for what one has done or omitted to do; the cause for repenting may be indicated with "of".

   Marry in haste, repent at leisure.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 17:1–4:

     Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
     Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jonah 3:10:

     And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

2. (theology, intransitive) To be sorry for sin as morally evil, and to seek forgiveness; to cease to practice sin and to love.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 1:14–15:

     ... Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 2:38–40:

     Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 13:3:

     I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

   • 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3: Omega (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, PC, scene: Gozu District:

     Mad Prophet: Repent! Repent and restore your souls to glory before it is too late! This great station has fallen, and all within shall fall with it!

   • 2013, Hassanal Bolkiah, “Syariah Penal Code Order, 2013”, in Brunei Darussalem Government Gazette‎^[1], page 1759:

     The Court shall, after sentencing an offender for any offence under section 221, 222, 223 or 224 and before execution of the punishment, order the offender to repent.

3. (transitive) To feel pain on account of; to remember with sorrow.
4. (transitive) To be sorry for, to regret.

   I repent my sins.

   • 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act IV:

     And what I ſaid in time of our buſines I repent not,
     And if it were to ſpeake againe,
     Euerie word ſhould be a whole ſermon,
     So much I repent me.

5. (archaic, transitive) To cause to have sorrow or regret.
   • 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book VII, [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC:

     at that time she wolde nat, she seyde, for she was syke and myght nat ryde. "That me repentith," seyde the kynge […].

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 6:6:

     And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

6. (obsolete, reflexive) To cause (oneself) to feel pain or regret.
   • c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.:

     But if that I knewe what his name hight,
     For clatering of me I would him ſone quight;
     For his falſe lying, of that I ſpake never,
     I could make him ſhortly repent him forever: […]

7. (archaic, intransitive) To change one's mind.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 110:4:

     The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

• afterthink
• regret
• rue

• marry in haste, repent at leisure

From Latin rēpēns, present participle of rēpō (“I creep”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹiːpənt/

repent

1. (chiefly botany) Creeping along the ground.
   • 1870, Samuel Klinefelter Hoshour, Letters to Squire Pedant in the East, page 54:

     The pennated, repent and ferine entities of the boscage, are ousels, shellducks, […] and ursine quadrupeds.

• reptant

• “repent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “repent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

repent

1. third-person singular present indicative of repentir

rēpent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of rēpō

Borrowed from Latin repens.

repent m or n (feminine singular repentă, masculine plural repenți, feminine and neuter plural repente)

1. creeping (about plants)