penitentiary
/ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəɹi/
penitentiary means of or relating to penance; penitential. It carries an Arena rating of 1647, earned across 148 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, penitentiary ranks #85 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #244 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #288 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,160 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
penitentiary is pronounced /ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəɹi/.
Why “penitentiary” is a great word
PENITENTIARY — [Adjective, Noun] As an adjective, it relates to penance or criminal punishment; as a noun, a prison for convicted felons or a priest who administers penance. From Middle English penitentiary, from Medieval Latin pēnitentiārius ("place of penitence"), from Latin paenitentia ("penitence, repentance"). Unlike "jail," a local lockup for minor offenses, or "prison," the generic term for confinement, a penitentiary is the long-term fortress for the condemned, its very name a theological relic. It is the cold stone meant to mirror a cold conscience, the oppressive silence imposed to foster inner reckoning, and the barred window framing a sky forever out of reach—a secular cathedral built on the tragic hope that time alone could alchemize guilt into redemption.
Etymology
From Middle English penitentiary, from Medieval Latin pēnitentiārius (“place of penitence”), from Latin paenitentia (“penitence”), term used by the Quakers in Pennsylvania during the 1790s, describing a place for penitents to dwell upon their sins.
adj
- Of or relating to penance; penitential.e.g.“A penitentiary tax.” — 1654, John Bramhall, A Just Vindication of the Church of England from the Unjust Aspersion of Criminal Schism:
- Of or relating to the punishment of criminals.e.g.“Penitentiary houses.” — 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
noun
- A state or federal prison for convicted felons; (loosely) a prison.e.g.“For quotations using this term, see Citations:penitentiary.”
- A priest in the Roman Catholic Church who administers the sacrament of penance.
- One who prescribes the rules and measures of penance.
- One who does penance.
- A small building in a monastery, or a part of a church, where penitents confessed.
- An office of the papal court which examines cases of conscience, confession, absolution from vows, etc., and delivers decisions, dispensations, etc.; run by a cardinal called the Grand Penitentiary who is appointed by the pope.
- An officer in some dioceses since 1215, vested with power from the bishop to absolve in cases reserved to him.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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