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Definition of repent verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

repent

verb
 
/rɪˈpent/
 
/rɪˈpent/
[intransitive, transitive] (formal)
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they repent
 
/rɪˈpent/
 
/rɪˈpent/
he / she / it repents
 
/rɪˈpents/
 
/rɪˈpents/
past simple repented
 
/rɪˈpentɪd/
 
/rɪˈpentɪd/
past participle repented
 
/rɪˈpentɪd/
 
/rɪˈpentɪd/
-ing form repenting
 
/rɪˈpentɪŋ/
 
/rɪˈpentɪŋ/
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  1. to feel and show that you are sorry for something bad or wrong that you have done
    • God welcomes the sinner who repents.
    • repent of something She had repented of what she had done.
    • repent something He came to repent his hasty decision (= wished he had not taken it).
    • repent for something I will spend the rest of my life trying to repent for my actions.
    Extra Examples
    • In order to be saved one must truly repent.
    • She bitterly repented what she had done.
    • She has repented of her sins.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • genuinely
    • sincerely
    • truly
    verb + repent
    • come to
    preposition
    • for
    • of
    See full entry
    Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French repentir, from re- (expressing intensive force) + pentir (based on Latin paenitere ‘cause to repent’).
See repent in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
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