n. [ L. confitens, p. pr. ] One who confesses his sins and faults. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Deep sorrow and penitence for sin; contrition. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being definite; determinateness; precision; certainty. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. profound knowledge.
Syn. -- erudition, learnedness, learning, scholarship. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. Quality of being expedite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality of being exquisite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being finite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. impenitentia: cf. F. impénitence. ] The condition of being impenitent; failure or refusal to repent; hardness of heart. [ 1913 Webster ]

He will advance from one degree of wickedness and impenitence to another. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Impenitence. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. impaenitens; pref. im- not + paenitens penitens: cf. F. impénitent. See Penitent. ] Not penitent; not repenting of sin; not contrite; of a hard heart. “They . . . died impenitent.” Milton. “A careless and impenitent heart.” Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who is not penitent. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Without repentance. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being indefinite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being infinite; infinity; greatness; immensity. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. inniti, p. p. innixus, to lean upon; pref. in- in, on + niti to lean. ] A leaning; pressure; weight. [ R. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. nitens, p. pr. of nitere to shine. ] Brightness; luster. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From L. nitens, p. pr. of niti to strive. ] Endeavor; effort; tendency. [ R. ] Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being opposite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. pénitence, L. paenitentia. See Penitent, and cf. Penance. ] The quality or condition of being penitent; the disposition of a penitent; sorrow for sins or faults; repentance; contrition. “Penitence of his old guilt.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Death is deferred, and penitenance has room
To mitigate, if not reverse, the doom. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Repentance; contrition; compunction. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. pénitencier. ] A priest who heard confession and enjoined penance in extraordinary cases. [ Written also penitenser. ] [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Penitence. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. pénitent, L. paenitens, -entis, poenitens, p. pr. of paenitere, poenitere, to cause to repent, to repent; prob. akin to poena punishment. See Pain. ] 1. Feeling pain or sorrow on account of sins or offenses; repentant; contrite; sincerely affected by a sense of guilt, and resolved on amendment of life. [ 1913 Webster ]

Be penitent, and for thy fault contrite. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

The proud he tamed, the penitent he cheered. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Doing penance. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who repents of sin; one sorrowful on account of his transgressions. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One under church censure, but admitted to penance; one undergoing penance. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One under the direction of a confessor. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Penitents is an appellation given to certain fraternities in Roman Catholic countries, distinguished by their habit, and employed in charitable acts. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. pénitentiel. ] Of or pertaining to penitence, or to penance; expressing penitence; of the nature of penance; as, the penitential book; penitential tears. “Penitential stripes.” Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

Guilt that all the penitential fires of hereafter can not cleanse. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (R. C. Ch.) A book formerly used by priests hearing confessions, containing rules for the imposition of penances; -- called also penitential book. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a penitential manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. pénitentiaire. ] 1. Relating to penance, or to the rules and measures of penance. “A penitentiary tax.” Abp. Bramhall. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Expressive of penitence; as, a penitentiary letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Used for punishment, discipline, and reformation. “Penitentiary houses.” Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Penitentiaries [ Cf. F. pénitencier. See Penitent. ] 1. One who prescribes the rules and measures of penance. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who does penance. [ Obs. ] Hammond. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A small building in a monastery where penitents confessed. Shpiley. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. That part of a church to which penitents were admitted. Shipley. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (R. C. Ch.) (a) An office of the papal court which examines cases of conscience, confession, absolution from vows, etc., and delivers decisions, dispensations, etc. Its chief is a cardinal, called the Grand Penitentiary, appointed by the pope. (b) An officer in some dioceses since A. D. 1215, vested with power from the bishop to absolve in cases reserved to him. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A house of correction, in which offenders are confined for punishment, discipline, and reformation, and in which they are generally compelled to labor; a prison; a jail. Colloquially often shortened to pen. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office or condition of a penitentiary of the papal court. [ R. ] Wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a penitent manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. High finish; smoothness; burnished elegance. [ R. ] Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The quality or state of being polite; refinement of manners; urbanity; courteous behavior; complaisance; obliging attentions. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Courtesy; good breeding; refinement; urbanity; courteousness; affability; complaisance; civility; gentility; courtliness. -- Politeness, Courtesy. Politeness denotes that ease and gracefulness of manners which first sprung up in cities, connected with a desire to please others by anticipating their wants and wishes, and studiously avoiding whatever might give them pain. Courtesy is, etymologically, the politeness of courts. It displays itself in the address and manners; it is shown more especially in receiving and entertaining others, and is a union of dignified complaisance and kindness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Preteritness. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Cf. F. rénitence. ] The state or quality of being renitent; resistance; reluctance. Sterne. [ 1913 Webster ]

We find a renitency in ourselves to ascribe life and irritability to the cold and motionless fibers of plants. E. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. renitens, -entis, p. pr. of renit to strive or struggle against, resist; pref. re- re- + niti to struggle or strive: cf. F. rénitent. ] 1. Resisting pressure or the effect of it; acting against impulse by elastic force. “[ Muscles ] soft and yet renitent.” Ray. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Persistently opposed. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖a. [ It. ] (Mus.) Held back; holding back; ritardando. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Straitened p. pr. & vb. n. Straitening. ] 1. To make strait; to make narrow; hence, to contract; to confine. [ 1913 Webster ]

Waters, when straitened, as at the falls of bridges, give a roaring noise. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

In narrow circuit, straitened by a foe. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make tense, or tight; to tighten. [ 1913 Webster ]

They straiten at each end the cord. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To restrict; to distress or embarrass in respect of means or conditions of life; -- used chiefly in the past participle; -- as, a man straitened in his circumstances. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Impenitent. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Whitened p. pr. & vb. n. Whitening. ] [ OE. whitenen; cf. Icel. hvītna. ] To grow white; to turn or become white or whiter; as, the hair whitens with age; the sea whitens with foam; the trees in spring whiten with blossoms. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make white; to bleach; to blanch; to whitewash; as, to whiten a wall; to whiten cloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

The broad stream of the Foyle then whitened by vast flocks of wild swans. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Blanch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, whitens; a bleaching agent; a bleach; a bleacher; a blancher; a whitewasher. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A chemical used as an adjunct to laundering white cloth, which makes white cloth appear whiter. A bluing agent. [ PJC ]

n. [ AS. hwītness. ] 1. The quality or state of being white; white color, or freedom from darkness or obscurity on the surface. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Want of a sanguineous tinge; paleness; as from terror, grief, etc. “The whiteness in thy cheek.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Freedom from stain or blemish; purity; cleanness. [ 1913 Webster ]

He had kept
The whiteness of his soul, and thus men o'er him wept. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Nakedness. [ Obs. ] Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) A flock of swans. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act or process of making or becoming white. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which is used to render white; whiting. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Whitening stone, a sharpening and polishing stone used by cutlers; also, a finishing grindstone of fine texture. [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. pl. pres. of Wit. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. witena gemōt an assembly of the wise; wita a wise man + gemōt assembly. ] (AS. Hist.) A meeting of wise men; the national council, or legislature, of England in the days of the Anglo-Saxons, before the Norman Conquest. [ 1913 Webster ]