Noun penance has 3 senses
- repentance, penitence, penance - remorse for your past conduct
--1 is a kind of compunction, remorse, self-reproach
- penance - a Catholic sacrament; repentance and confession and satisfaction and absolution
--2 is a kind of sacrament
--2 has parts: absolution, remission, remittal, remission of sin
--2 has particulars: confession
- penance, self-mortification, self-abasement - voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing
--3 is a kind of punishment, penalty, penalization, penalisation
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