penitent

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin paenitēns, poenitēns (“penitent”), present participle of paeniteō, poeniteō (“I cause to repent; I regret, repent”). Doublet of penitente.

adj

1. Feeling pain or sorrow on account of one's sins or offenses; feeling sincere guilt.
2. Doing penance.

noun

1. One who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of their transgressions.
2. One under church censure, but admitted to penance; one undergoing penance.
   Wamba, who defeated the Saracens in an attempt upon Spain, was deprived of the crown, because he had been clothed in the habit of a penitent, while labouring under the influence of poison, administered by the ambitious Erviga! 1837, William Russell, The History of Modern Europe: with an Account of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Longman, Rees, & Co., page 20
3. One under the direction of a confessor.