penitentiary.
A state or federal prison for convicted felons; (loosely) a prison.
Meaning & usage
A state or federal prison for convicted felons; (loosely) a prison.
A priest in the Roman Catholic Church who administers the sacrament of penance.
One who prescribes the rules and measures of penance.
One who does penance.
A small building in a monastery, or a part of a church, where penitents confessed.
An office of the papal court which examines cases of conscience, confession, absolution from vows, etc., and delivers decisions, dispensations, etc.; run by a cardinal called the Grand Penitentiary who is appointed by the pope.
An officer in some dioceses since 1215, vested with power from the bishop to absolve in cases reserved to him.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English penitentiary, from Medieval Latin pēnitentiārius (“place of penitence”), from Latin paenitentia (“penitence”), term used by the Quakers in Pennsylvania during the 1790s, describing a place for penitents to dwell upon their sins.
Of or relating to penance; penitential.
Of or relating to the punishment of criminals.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English penitentiary, from Medieval Latin pēnitentiārius (“place of penitence”), from Latin paenitentia (“penitence”), term used by the Quakers in Pennsylvania during the 1790s, describing a place for penitents to dwell upon their sins.
Try it on your idea.
penitentiary has 12 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.