resipiscence
/ˌɹɛsəˈpɪsn̩(t)s/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Recognition of one or more past mistakes, especially with a desire to improve in the future; repentance; (countable) an instance of this.
Literary; Uncountable
noun
The act of becoming comprehending, reasonable or responsible, especially after having behaved in an uncomprehending, unreasonable, or irresponsible manner; the act of coming to one's senses; (countable) an instance of this.
Literary; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "And I haue already ſayd how ſinners for obteyning of pardon haue neede of repentance, which ſome like better to call Reſipiſcence, or amendment, and of change of minde: and the Lord promiſeth that he will pardon ſinners if they repent, if they amend and turne their hartes from their naughtie liues vnto hym."
- "[T]hey vvill not haue to ſignifie a ſorrovvefull repentance, but a Resipiscence, or vvaxing vviſe againe vvhich God graunt they may doe vvithout any ſorrovve, or affliction of minde for that vvhich is paſt."
- "[R]ecollect your conduct paſt, / That reſipiſc[e]nce may at laſt / Effectuate a change."
- "Amid these enlarged measures, the papers tell us of one by the legislature of New York, so much in the opposite direction that it would puzzle us to say in what, the darkest age of the history of bigotry and barbarism, we should find an apt place for it. It is said they have declared by law that all those who hereafter shall join in communion with the religious sect of Shaking quakers, shall be deemed civilly dead, their marriage vows dissolved, and all their children and property taken from them; without any provision for rehabilitation in case of resipiscence."
- "The church of England was no longer exasperated against them; if there was ever any prosecution, it was to screen the king from the reproach of the puritans. They drew a flattering picture of the resipiscence of the Anglican party; who are come to acknowledge the truth in some articles, and differ in others rather verbally than in substance, or in points not fundamental; […]"
- "[G]reat intellect knows no resipiscence and high art has nothing to repent of."
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Middle French resipiscence (“act of recovering one’s senses or coming back to a more acceptable view; repentance”) (modern French résipiscence), or from its etymon Late Latin resipīscentia (“regaining of a clear state of mind, repentance”), from Latin resipīscēns + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Resipīscēns is the present participle of resipīscō (“to recover one’s senses; to revive”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + sapiō (“to have flavour or taste; (figurative) to have good taste or discernment; to be sensible or wise”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁p-, *sep- (“to taste; to try out”)) + -īscō (a variant of -ēscō (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘becoming [something]’)).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɹɛsəˈpɪsn̩(t)s/
- British English: /ˌɹɛsɪˈpɪsn̩(t)s/