pentimento

repentance, regret

noun pen-tee-MEN-toh Rare

Origin: From Latin paenitere (to repent).

Also means

pentimento (visible earlier layer in a painting)

Usage Note

Pentimento covers both sincere moral regret and the art-restoration sense of a reworked or underlying image visible through the paint surface. In everyday speech it usually means remorse. The plural pentimenti is used in art contexts. The related verb is pentirsi (to repent, to be sorry).

Examples

"Ha espresso pentimento per le sue azioni."

Natural Translation

He expressed repentance for his actions.

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