- 1監獄（美式正式用語，常見於監獄名稱）
A penitentiary is a prison, especially a large one run by a state or by the country, and the word shows up most often in official names: the state penitentiary, the federal penitentiary. In ordinary talk, American speakers still say prison far more; penitentiary sounds formal, legal, and a little old-fashioned, the kind of word you read on a sign or in a news report rather than say over dinner. British English almost never uses it for a local jail; prison is the everyday word there too. The name is more hopeful than the place usually is. It comes from — feeling sorry — because in the 1790s in Pennsylvania wanted a prison where people would sit with what they had done and try to change, not only be locked away. That idea did not last in any simple way, but the name did. You may also meet it as an adjective in very formal writing (a penitentiary sentence), still pointing at prison, not at the feeling of being sorry.
From the word’s history
From Medieval Latin pēnitentiārius 'place of penitence'.
源自中世紀拉丁文 pēnitentiārius「懺悔之所」，讓犯人反省罪過。
組成From Latin paenitentia (penitence, feeling sorry) through Medieval Latin pēnitentiārius (a place of penitence). In the 1790s, Quakers in Pennsylvania used it for a prison where people would dwell on their wrongs and try to change.
原始詞典資料9 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
penitentiarynoun/ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəɹi/
- 1
A state or federal prison for convicted felons; (loosely) a prison.
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:penitentiary.
- 2
A priest in the Roman Catholic Church who administers the sacrament of penance.
- 3
obsoleteOne who prescribes the rules and measures of penance.
- The Race of this Warre fell vpon the losse of Vrbin it selfe, which was the Dukes vndoubted Right; Yet in this case, no Penitentiary, (though hee had enioyned him neuer so strait Penance to expiate his first Offence,) would haue counselled him to haue giuen ouer the pursuit of his Right for Vrbin; Which after he prosperously re-obtained, […]
- 4
obsoleteOne who does penance.
- 5
obsoleteA small building in a monastery, or a part of a church, where penitents confessed.
- Topics which a priest may not treat , and which bishops declare are unfit for sacramental confession even in penitentiaries, become , with either public or private approval , the subject - matter of platform speeches
- 6
obsoleteAn office of the papal court which examines cases of conscience, confession, absolution from vows, etc., and delivers decisions, dispensations, etc.; run by a cardinal called the Grand Penitentiary who is appointed by the pope.
- 7
obsoleteAn officer in some dioceses since 1215, vested with power from the bishop to absolve in cases reserved to him.
penitentiaryadj/ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəɹi/
- 1
Of or relating to penance; penitential.
- A penitentiary tax.
- 2
Of or relating to the punishment of criminals.
- Penitentiary houses.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。