Repenter

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who feels sincere regret for past wrongs and turns away from them to live differently
2. Someone who is sorry for their sins or misdeeds and seeks to change their behavior and conduct
3. One who experiences remorse for a wrong committed and resolves to amend their ways going forward

Etymology: "Repenter" is a straightforward formation: the verb "repent" with the agent suffix "-er," which marks a person who performs the action. Someone who repents is a repenter, and the word follows the same pattern as "believer" or "sinner" built from their verbs. The verb underneath has the more interesting history. "Repent" comes from the Latin "paenitere," meaning to be sorry or to regret, and it reached English through Old French. The Latin root carried a sense of regret about one's conduct, and the English verb kept that moral weight, so a repenter is someone who has turned away from wrongdoing rather than simply someone who feels a pang of sorrow.

Synonyms: penitent, repentant