Definition of penance

• n. - Repentance.
• n. - Pain; sorrow; suffering.
• n. - A means of repairing a sin committed, and obtaining pardon for it, consisting partly in the performance of expiatory rites, partly in voluntary submission to a punishment corresponding to the transgression. Penance is the fourth of seven sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church.
• v. t. - To impose penance; to punish.