penitentiary

[pen-i-ten-shuh-ree]

noun

plural

penitentiaries 

1. a place for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment, especially a prison maintained in the U.S. by a state or the federal government for serious offenders.

2. Roman Catholic Church.,  a tribunal in the Curia Romana, presided over by a cardinal grand penitentiary, having jurisdiction over certain matters, as penance, confession, dispensation, absolution, and impediments, and dealing with questions of conscience reserved for the Holy See.

adjective

1. (of an offense) punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary.

2. of, relating to, or intended for imprisonment, reformatory discipline, or punishment.

3. penitential.

penitentiary

/ ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃərɪ /

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: pen. (in the US and Canada) a state or federal prison: in Canada, esp a federal prison for offenders convicted of serious crimes

2. RC Church

   1. a cleric appointed to supervise the administration of the sacrament of penance in a particular area

   2. a priest who has special faculties to absolve particularly grave sins

   3. a cardinal who presides over a tribunal that decides all matters affecting the sacrament of penance

   4. this tribunal itself

adjective

1. another word for penitential

2. (of an offence) punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary

Word History and Origins

Origin of penitentiary¹

1375–1425; late Middle English penitenciarie priest who administers penance, prison < Medieval Latin pēnitēntiārius of penance. See penitence, -ary

Word History and Origins

Origin of penitentiary¹

C15 (meaning also: an officer dealing with penances): from Medieval Latin poenitēntiārius, from Latin paenitēns _penitent

Example Sentences

Ukraine's justice ministry said four bombs hit the Bilenke penitentiary, destroying the dining hall, administrative HQ and quarantine area and that all those killed and wounded were inmates.

From BBC

This month, he proposed reopening Alcatraz, the decaying island penitentiary in the San Francisco Bay, to house the country’s “most ruthless and violent” criminals.

From Los Angeles Times

An investigation by the Marshall Project in 2022 disclosed pervasive violence and abuse at a high-security unit in the Thomson federal penitentiary in Illinois.

From Los Angeles Times

Inside the penitentiary, with a backdrop of heavily tattooed prisoners stacked behind bars, Noem went on X to deliver a warning.

From Los Angeles Times

As the documentary outlines, the building of that “state-of-the-art” penitentiary in the middle of the redwood forest in the northernmost part of California helped dehumanize those housed within its walls.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• lockup 
• prison 

When To Use

What does penitentiary mean?

A penitentiary is a prison, especially a state or federal prison in the United States or Canada.Penitentiaries typically house criminals who have committed major crimes. The word is often used in formal contexts. In less formal and slang usage, it is often shortened to pen or the pen, such as in the phrase state pen (a penitentiary run by a state government, as opposed to the federal government). It is sometimes used as an adjective describing related things.Less commonly, the word is used as the name of a special type of Roman Catholic tribunal.Example: If convicted, your client is facing a life sentence in a federal penitentiary.