Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Repent |
RepentVerb1. Turn away from sin or do penitence. 2. Feel remorse for; feel sorry for; be contrite about. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "repent" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Synonyms: RepentSynonyms: atone (v), regret (v), rue (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Atonement | Verb: atone, atone for; expiate; propitiate; make amends, make good; reclaim, redeem, repair, ransom, absolve, purge, shrive, do penance, stand in a white sheet, repent in sackcloth and ashes, wear a hairshirt. |
Penitence | Verb: repent, be sorry for; be penitent; Adjective: rue; regret; think better of; recant; knock under; (submit); plead guilty; sing miserere, sing de profundis; cry peccavi; own oneself in the wrong; acknowledge, confess; (disclose); humble oneself; beg pardon; (apologize); turn over a new leaf, put on the new man, turn from sin; reclaim; repent in sackcloth and ashes; (do penance); learn by experience. |
Regret | Verb: regret, deplore; bewail; (lament); repine, cast a longing lingering look behind; rue, rue the day; repent; infandum renovare dolorem. |
Tergiversation | Draw in one's horns, eat one's words; eat the leek, swallow the leek; swerve, flinch, back out of, retrace one's steps, think better of it; come back return to one's first love; turn over a new leaf; (repent). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Repent |
| English words defined with "repent": Athink ♦ Excommunication by inch of candle ♦ Forthink ♦ impenitence, impenitency ♦ Repented, Repenting, Reptant. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "repent": God ♦ Moakkibat, Mustard ♦ Nor, not ♦ repentance. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "repent": Athink ♦ Forthink. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Repent" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. French (repents). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Before we can repent, we have to sin. (Rasputin; writing credit: Peter Pruce) Sounds like a standard turn and repent to me. (Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie; writing credit: Phil Vischer; Mike Nawrocki) | |
Clever | The wages of sin is death. Repent before payday. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Suffer and Repent Sin (1965) Repent at Leisure (1941) As Ye Repent (1915) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
C.a. Mason | If we put off repentance another day; we have a day more to repent of and a day less in which to repent. |
George Eliot | When death comes it is never our tenderness that we repent from, but our severity. |
Henry David Thoreau | If I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. |
Josh Billings | Most people repent of their sins by thanking God they ain't so wicked as their neighbors. |
MoliFre | We often marry in despair, so that we repent of it all our life after. |
Socrates | As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take which course he will, he will be sure to repent. |
Thomas Fuller | You cannot repent too soon, because you do not know how soon it may be too late. |
Thomas Jefferson | We rarely repent of having eaten too little. |
William Congreve | Grief walks upon the heels of pleasure; married in haste, we repent at leisure. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | It will perhaps be demanded, with death? I answer, each transgression may be punished to that degree, and with so much severity, as will suffice to make it an ill bargain to the offender, give him cause to repent, and terrify others from doing the like. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | They seem very comfortable as they are, and if she were to take any pains to marry him, she would probably repent it. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | I pray to God, and do you pray with me, that we may repent of our sins. |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything, it is very likely to be my good behavior. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Human Rights | Uzbekistan | Those released were required to repent for their alleged crimes. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | REPENTANCE, n. The faithful attendant and follower of Punishment. It is usually manifest in a degree of reformation that is not inconsistent with continuity of sin. Desirous to avoid the pains of Hell, You will repent and join the Church, Parnell? How needless! -- Nick will keep you off the coals And add you to the woes of other souls. Jomater Abemy |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Repent" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 57.01% of the time. "Repent" is used about 107 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 57.01% | 61 | 43,149 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 42.99% | 46 | 50,285 |
| Total | 100.00% | 107 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expression using "repent": repent in sackcloth and ashes. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
repent | 51 |
repent harlequin said the ticktockman | 5 |
does mean repent | 4 |
harlequin repent | 3 |
repent sin | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "repent"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaan | beroue (feel sorry for, regret, repent of). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | pendohem (regret, rue), më vjen keq (be sorry, feel, it is a pity, regret, rue, spare, sympathize, take pity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | نادم (bad, contrite, penitent, regretful, repentant), توب (penance, repentant sinner, rue), تأسف, أسف (be sorry, grief, grieve, pity, plead guilty, regret, regretful, repentance, rue, sorrow, sorry). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | съжалявам (be sorry for, pity, regret, rue, sorry), увивен (voluble), разкайвам се (be consoled, regret, rue), пълзящ (creeping, procumbent, prostrate, rambling, reptile, running, scandent, serpigious), покайвам се. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 懊" (feel remorse, regret), 懺 (feel remorse, regret), "" (repentance), 後" (regret). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | litovat (be sorry, deplore, feel sorry for, pity, regret, rue), kát se. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | tot inkeer komen, berouw hebben. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | pentigi (regret, repent of), penti pri (feel sorry for, regret, repent of), penti. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Faeroese | iðra seg um. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | پشیمان شدن (Relent), نادم (Penitent, Remorseful), توبه کردن , اصلاح شدن (Reclaim). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | katua (be sorry, regret, street). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | se repentir, regretter (regret, repent of). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | bereuen (regret, rue, to have regrets, to regret, to repent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | μετανιώνω (regret, rue), μετανοώ (change my mind). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | לשוב (come back, go back, repeat, return, revert), לחזור בתשוב" (regret), לחזור בו (back down, back out of, back up, recant, reconsider, regret, take back, unsay), ל"תחרט (change one's mind, feel remorse, regret), ל" חם (be consoled, grieve, have compassion, pity, regret). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | sajnál (be sorry about, begrudge, deplore, grudge, regret, to commiserate, to commiserate with sy, to deplore, to lament, to pity, to regret, to repent, to stint, to stint oneself of sg), megbán (regret, to regret, to rue), kúszó (climber, climbing, creeping, creepy, reptant), csúszómászó (abject, crawler, creeping, groveller, reptant, reptile, reptilian, snake, sneaky, spaniel, sycophantic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | menyesali (begrudge, rue). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | pentirsi (regret, rue). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | ""める (to repent), "い"める (to be penitent, to repent), "む (to mourn, to regret, to repent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | くいあらためる (to be penitent, to repent), くやむ (to mourn, to regret, to repent). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | goaill arrys (rue). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | epentray rastejante (creeping, creepy, reptile), sentir arrependimento, que rasteja, arrepender-se de (be sorry for, rue), arrepender-se (regret). (various references) regreta (lament, regret, rue), pocãi (be penitent), cãi, a-i pãrea rãu de. (various references) раскаиваться (be consoled). (various references) pokajati se, biljka puzavica (clambering plant). (various references) rastrero (dredger), arrepentirse (be sorry, regret, rue). (various references) ångra sig, ångra (be sorry about, command invalidation, escape, regret, rue, undo, undoing of a command). (various references) tövbe etmek (abjure, forswear, swear off, swear to give up, vow not to do it again), pişmanlık duymak (rue), pişman olmak (be sorry for, live to rue it, rue). (various references) розкаюватися (regret, rue), повзучий (creeping, creepy, procumbent, wandering), плазуючий (creeping, creepy, reptile, wormy). (various references) edifarhau (be sorry). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | conpuncti, conpunctum, conpungar, conpungimini, conpunxerunt, inpaenitens, paeniteamur, paeniteat, paenitebat, paenitebit, paenitebitur, paenitemini, paenitens, paenitentia, paenitentibus, paeniteo, paeniteret, paeniteri, paenitet, paenituerunt, paenituit, poenitire. (various references) |
| Old English | 450-1100 | behreowsian. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Mark Chapter 6, Verse 12 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai exelqonteV ekhrusson ina metanohswsin |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et exeuntes praedicabant ut paenitentiam agerent |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | & ut-gangende hyo bodedan þt hyodeadbote dyden. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And thei yeden forth, and prechiden, that men schulden do penaunce. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And they went out and preached that they shuld repent: |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And they went out, and preached that men should repent. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And they went out and preached that men should repent. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And they went out, preaching the need for a change of heart in men. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Mark Chapter 6, Verse 12 |
| Cebuano | Ug sila nanglakaw ug nagwali nga kinahanglan maghinulsol ang mga tawo. |
| Croatian | Otišavši, propovijedali su obraæenje, |
| Danish | Og de gik ud og prædikede, at man skulde omvende sig. |
| Dutch | En uitgegaan zijnde, predikten zij, dat zij zich zouden bekeren. |
| Finnish | Niin he lähtivät ja saarnasivat, että oli tehtävä parannus. |
| French | Ils partirent, et ils prêchèrent la repentance. |
| Gaelic | `Sa gabhail a mach, shearmonaich iad gun fheumar aithreachas a dheanamh. |
| German | Und sie gingen aus und predigten, man sollte Buße tun, |
| Haitian Creole | Douz disip yo pati; y' al mache bay nouvèl la pou tout moun tounen vin jwenn Bondye. |
| Hungarian | Kimenvén azért, prédikálják vala, hogy térjenek meg. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Maka kedua belas pengikut Yesus itu berangkat. Mereka pergi menyiarkan berita bahwa manusia harus bertobat dari dosa-dosanya. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Maka keluarlah mereka itu serta mengajar orang, bahwa patut orang bertobat. |
| Italian | E partiti, predicavano che la gente si convertisse, |
| Maori | Na ka haere ratou, ka kauwhau kia ripeneta te tangata. |
| Norwegian | Og de gikk ut og forkynte for folket at de skulde omvende sig, |
| Portuguese | Então saíram e pregaram que todos se arrependessem; |
| Rumanian | Ucenicii au plecat, wi au propovqduit pocqinya. |
| Russian | пОЙ ПЫМЙ Й ТП ПЧЕ"ЩЧБМЙ ПЛБСОЙЕ; |
| Shuar | Nuyá Jesusa unuiniamuri Jíinkiar Enentái yapajiar Yúsai Enentáimtumartinian etserkarmiayi. |
| Spanish | Entonces ellos salieron y predicaron que la gente se arrepintiese. |
| Swahili | Basi, wakaondoka, wakahubiri watu watubu. |
| Swedish | Och de gingo ut och predikade att man skulle göra bättring; |
| Uma | Ka'oti-na Yesus mpotudui' ana'guru-na to hampulu' rodua toera, me'ongko' -ramo hilou mpotudui' tauna bona medea-ra ngkai jeko' -ra. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "repent": repentance, repentances, repentant, repentantly, repented, repenter, repenters, repenting, repents. (additional references) | |
Words containing "repent": unrepentant, unrepentantly. (additional references) | |
| |
"Repent" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: arpent, prepent, Prepnet, raent, reent, rement, repandu, repat, repect, repelt, repens, repet, Repetto, repin, Reppin, repun, repund, revent, rezent, rupen. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "repent" (pronounced rupe"nt) |
| 4 | -p e" n t | misspent, outspent, overspent, pent, spent, unspent. |
| 3 | -e" n t | accent, ascent, assent, augment, bent, Brent, cement, cent, circumvent, consent, Dement, Dent, descent, discontent, dissent, event, extent, ferment, gent, indent, intent, invent, Kent, lament, lent, malcontent, meant, misrepresent, nonevent, occident, percent, prevent, reinvent, relent, rent, represent, resent, scent, sent, tent, underwent, vent, went. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-n-p-r-t" | |
-1 letter: enter, peter, preen, rente, terne, treen. | |
-2 letters: erne, neep, peen, peer, pent, pert, pree, rent, rete, teen, tern, tree. | |
-3 letters: ere, ern, nee, net, pee, pen, per, pet, ree, rep, ret, tee, ten. | |
-4 letters: en, er, et, ne, pe, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-n-p-r-t" | |
+1 letter: penster, percent, perpent, precent, present, preteen, pretend, prevent, repents, serpent, terpene. | |
+2 letters: aperient, besprent, entrepot, erumpent, inexpert, nephrite, outpreen, parented, pensters, percents, permeant, perpents, pertness, petering, petronel, precents, preenact, prentice, presents, preteens, pretence, pretends, pretense, preunite, prevents, repented, repenter, repetend, serpents, terpenes, terpenic, trephine, unexpert. | |
+3 letters: aperients, carpenter, copresent, encrypted, enrapture, entrapped, entrepots, entropies, epicenter, experting, inexperts, intercept, interlope, interpled, interpose, interpret, nephrites, nonexpert, notepaper, outpreens, overspent, parentage, partnered, patienter, patterned, peltering, penetrant, penetrate, perennate, peritonea, permanent, personate, pertained, pertinent, pestering, petronels, phrenetic, pinsetter, pistareen, portended, precedent, precented, precentor, preenacts, prenticed, prentices, prepotent, prereturn, prescient, presented, presentee, presenter, presently, president, pretences, pretended, pretender, pretenses, preunited, preunites, prevalent, prevented, preventer, princelet, protended, pteridine, reception, recipient, reinspect, repainted, repattern, repayment, repeating, repellant, repellent, repentant, repenters, repenting, repetends, replanted, repletion, represent, reprinted, reprinter, sparteine, spinneret, tempering, terpenoid, terpineol, thereupon, threeping, trepanned, trephined, trephines, treponema, treponeme, truepenny, unperfect. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)52 65 70 65 6E 74 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
|
| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
|
| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
|
Morse Code (1836) (references).-. . .--. . -. - |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010010 01100101 01110000 01100101 01101110 01110100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)R e p e n t |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0052 0065 0070 0065 006E 0074 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
|
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)527182718086 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Quotations: Historic 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Bible Trace 16. Derivations | 17. Rhymes 18. Anagrams 19. Orthography 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
