"penance" in the noun sense
1. repentance, penitence, penance
remorse for your past conduct
2. penance
a Catholic sacrament repentance and confession and atonement and absolution
3. penance, self-mortification, self-abasement
voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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