repent
- 01 C1 Advanced
v.to feel sincere regret for your past actions and decide to do what is right in the future.
v.to experience sincere remorse or regret for one's past actions or omissions. Often intransitive and followed by the preposition 'of'.
Simple“He truly repented of his cruel words after seeing how much they hurt his friend.”
In context“The prisoner claimed to have repented of his crimes, yet the parole board remained unconvinced of his sudden moral transformation.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to be sorry for your sins and turn away from bad behavior to seek forgiveness.
v.to experience contrition for sin as a moral evil, accompanied by a commitment to amend one's life.
Simple“The preacher called on the people to repent and start a new life.”
In context“In many theological traditions, the sinner must sincerely repent before they can receive absolution from the church.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
adj.describing a plant that grows by creeping along the ground.
adj.describing a plant stem or organism that creeps along the ground or surface, often rooting at intervals.
Simple“The garden was covered in a repent vine that spread quickly across the soil.”
In context“The botanist identified the specimen as a repent species, noting how the stems formed a dense mat over the forest floor.”
UsageUsually placed before the noun in botanical descriptions.
“After all, with freedom we sin, and with freedom we repent.”
From Middle English repenten, from Old French repentir, from Vulgar Latin *repaenitīre, from Late Latin paenitīre, from Classical Latin paenitēre. Compare Modern French repentir.
From Latin rēpēns, present participle of rēpō (“I creep”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.