Felt sorry for something wrong you did and decided to change your behavior; expressed regret for past actions.
From Old French 'repentir,' from Latin 're-' (again) and 'poenitere' (to regret). Heavily used in religious contexts from Middle English onward.
The concept of repentance is so old that it appears in the earliest texts—the Buddha taught repentance, Jesus preached it, and the Old Testament is full of it—because feeling regret and changing behavior might be fundamental to human consciousness.
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