penitential means pertaining to penance or penitence. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 77 out of 100.
Why this word is great
PENITENTIAL — [Adjective] Pertaining to, expressing, or used for penance or repentance. From Medieval Latin *paenitentiālis*, from Latin *paenitentia* ("repentance, penance"). Unlike "penitent," which describes the person feeling remorse, or "penitentiary," which denotes an institution of punishment, penitential qualifies the formal grammar and atmosphere of atonement. It is the raw scrape of sackcloth against skin, the ashen taste of Lenten ashes on the tongue, and the hollow chill of kneeling on stone before dawn—a tangible architecture erected to articulate a sorrow too vast for words.
adj
- Pertaining to penance or penitence.“Guilt that all the penitential fires of hereafter can not cleanse.”
noun
- A book or set of rules pertaining to the Christian sacrament of penance.