Etymograph

English

repentance

Repentance comes from Old French repentance, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- ‘to hate, hurt’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₁-1‘to hate, hurt’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400repentance1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500repentance1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1851repentance1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English repentance
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick: “And here, shipmates, is true and faithful repentance; not…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₁-Wiktionary, English repentance‘to hate, hurt’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400repentanceWiktionary, English repentance
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500repentanceWiktionary, English repentance
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1851repentanceWiktionary, English repentance. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick: “And here, shipmates, is true and faithful repentance; not…”

first attested First attested circa 14th century, from Middle English repentance, repentaunce, from Old French repentance (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested circa 14th century, from Middle English repentance, repentaunce, from Old French repentance.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- ‘to hate, hurt’

patient, passionate, passive, compatible, compassion, patience, fend, fiend, penitentiary, penance, penitent, penitence, 10 more

Today it means

noun The action of repenting, an instance of it, atonement.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “repentance”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- / repentance

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