penitentiary Hear it!

penitentiary definition

peni·ten·tiary (pen′i tens̸hə rē)

adjective

  1. of or for penance
  2. used in punishing, disciplining, and reforming
  3. making one liable to imprisonment in a penitentiary
  4. of or in a penitentiary

Etymology: ML penitentiarius, poenitentiarius (form and meaning infl. by assoc. with L poena: see penal) < L paenitentia < paenitens, penitent

noun pl. penitentiaries -·ries

  1. Etymology: ML penitentiaria < the adj.

    1. a prison
    2. ☆ a state or federal prison for persons convicted of serious crimes
  2. Etymology: ML(Ec) penitentiarius < the adj.

    an office or tribunal headed by a cardinal (Grand Penitentiary) and dealing with matters of penance, confession, dispensation, absolution, etc.

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.