Penaunce

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of penance, meaning a punishment or act of atonement undertaken to show regret for a sin
2. Old spelling for the act of atoning for wrongdoing through suffering, prayer, or other acts of repentance
3. A obsolete form denoting the self-imposed or imposed discipline a person accepts to make amends for sin

Etymology: Middle English "penaunce" is the older form of "penance," and it came into English from Old French "penance," which descends from Latin "paenitentia," meaning repentance or regret. The Latin word is built from "paenitere," to repent, and its sense shifted over time from the inner feeling of sorrow for wrongdoing toward the outward acts that show that sorrow, such as prayer, fasting, or a payment imposed by a priest. That shift is the heart of the story. In the medieval Church, penance became a formal sacrament: a sinner confessed to a priest, and the priest assigned a penalty to be performed. The punishment was thus a visible sign of inward contrition, which is why the same word could mean both the feeling and the discipline that expressed it. The spelling "penaunce" reflects the Middle English and Anglo-Norman forms, which the modern spelling later regularised. The two words are ultimately related to "pain," through Latin "poena," though "penance" came through the Church's Latin rather than directly from that word.