penitentiary


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pen·i·ten·tia·ry

 (pĕn′ĭ-tĕn′shə-rē)
n. pl. pen·i·ten·tia·ries
1. A prison for those convicted of major crimes.
2. Roman Catholic Church
a. A tribunal of the Roman Curia having jurisdiction in matters relating to penance, dispensations, and papal absolutions.
b. A priest whose special function is the administration of the sacrament of penance in a particular church or diocese.
adj.
1. Of or for the purpose of penance; penitential.
2. Relating to or used for punishment or reform of criminals or wrongdoers.
3. Resulting in or punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary: a penitentiary offense.

[Middle English penitenciarie, penance officer, episcopal prison, from Medieval Latin pēnitentiāria, feminine of pēnitentiārius, from Latin paenitentia, penitence, from paenitēns, penitent; see penitent.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

penitentiary

(ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃərɪ)
n, pl -ries
1. (Law) (in the US and Canada) a state or federal prison: in Canada, esp a federal prison for offenders convicted of serious crimes. Sometimes shortened to: pen
2. (Roman Catholic Church) RC Church
a. a cleric appointed to supervise the administration of the sacrament of penance in a particular area
b. a priest who has special faculties to absolve particularly grave sins
c. a cardinal who presides over a tribunal that decides all matters affecting the sacrament of penance
d. this tribunal itself
adj
3. another word for penitential1
4. (Law) US and Canadian (of an offence) punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary
[C15 (meaning also: an officer dealing with penances): from Medieval Latin poenitēntiārius, from Latin paenitēns penitent]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pen•i•ten•tia•ry

(ˌpɛn ɪˈtɛn ʃə ri)

n., pl. -ries,
adj. n.
1. a place for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment, esp., in the U.S., a state or federal institution for serious offenders.
2. a tribunal in the Curia Romana, presided over by a cardinal having jurisdiction over certain matters, as penance, confession, or dispensation.
adj.
3. (of an offense) punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary.
4. of, pertaining to, or intended for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment.
[1375–1425; late Middle English penitenciarie priest who administers penance, prison < Medieval Latin pēnitentiārius of penance. See penitence, -ary]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.penitentiary - a correctional institution for those convicted of major crimespenitentiary - a correctional institution for those convicted of major crimes
correctional institution - a penal institution maintained by the government
Adj.1.penitentiary - used for punishment or reform of criminals or wrongdoers; "penitentiary institutions"
punitive, punitory - inflicting punishment; "punitive justice"; "punitive damages"
2.penitentiary - showing or constituting penance; "penitential tears"; "wrote a penitential letter apologizing for her hasty words"
penitent, repentant - feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

penitentiary

noun
A place for the confinement of persons in lawful detention:
Informal: lockup, pen.
Chiefly Regional: calaboose.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
fengselkasjott

penitentiary

[ˌpenɪˈtenʃərɪ] N (esp US) (= prison) → penitenciaria f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

penitentiary

[ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəri] n (US)prison f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

penitentiary

n (esp US: = prison) → Strafanstalt f, → Gefängnis nt
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

penitentiary

[ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃərɪ] n (esp Am) (prison) → penitenziario, carcere m
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
A JUDGE having sentenced a Malefactor to the penitentiary was proceeding to point out to him the disadvantages of crime and the profit of reformation.
For if it hadn't been for that they'd a jailed us till them Englishmen's baggage come -- and then -- the penitentiary, you bet!
If I were to say to Miss Maria, `My father has hanged himself, my mother has taken poison, my brother is in the penitentiary, and I am in the last stages of consumption,' Miss Maria would laugh.
Her ladyship had observed, upon this, with some asperity, that if they were all to treat each other in that unceremonious manner, the sooner Windygates was turned into a Penitentiary, on the silent system, the fitter the house would be for the people who inhabited it.
I have noted the fact, but without satisfaction, I need not add, that several of the boys who began their careers with "store hats" and who were my schoolmates and used to join in the sport that was made of me because I had only a "homespun" cap, have ended their careers in the penitentiary, while others are not able now to buy any kind of hat.
Likewise, he bought a string of horse-hair bridles from a convict in a Western penitentiary, who spread the good news until it seemed to Daylight that half the convicts in that institution were making bridles for him.
"What are we to do, then?" I asked, as we landed near Millbank Penitentiary.
"It looks," said Newman to himself--and I give the comparison for what it is worth--"like a Chinese penitentiary." At last the door was opened by a servant whom he remembered to have seen in the Rue de l'Universite.
We have to take our relatives as they are, and be thankful if there are no penitentiary birds among them.
Into this herbaceous penitentiary, situated on an upper staircase-landing: a low and narrow whitewashed cell, where bunches of dried leaves hung from rusty hooks in the ceiling, and were spread out upon shelves, in company with portentous bottles: would the Reverend Septimus submissively be led, like the highly popular lamb who has so long and unresistingly been led to the slaughter, and there would he, unlike that lamb, bore nobody but himself.
The coals in the grate settled down with a slight crash; and Michaelis, the hermit of visions in the desert of a penitentiary, got up impetuously.
The walls were white, the carpet red, electric lights blazed in profusion, and the emptiness, the silence, the closed doors all alike and numbered, made me think of the perfect order of some severely luxurious model penitentiary on the solitary confinement principle.