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To repent is to feel truly sorry for something you did, to wish you had not done it, and — most of the time — to want to change.
for something you did對自己做過的事， to feel truly sorry真心感到抱歉， to wish you had not done it希望當初沒做， and而且 most of the time大多時候 to want to change也想改變， To repent is這就是悔改。
People use this word especially in a religious way: in church, in the Bible, when someone talks to God about a wrong. You repent of a lie, of hurting someone, of a whole way of living.
in church, in the Bible在教會裡、在聖經中 when someone talks to God about a wrong當有人向神提到自己的過錯時，People use this word especially in a religious way人們特別會用宗教方式使用這個字。 of a lie一個謊言、of hurting someone傷害別人、of a whole way of living或整個生活方式，You repent這些都可以用 repent of 來表達。
Though actually, you will also hear it outside church, when a writer wants a strong, serious I was wrong — stronger than I regret it. Regret can be about bad luck (I regret that it rained). Repent is about your own choice, and about the heart turning around.
Though actually不過， you will also hear it outside church你在教會外也會聽到這個字， when a writer wants a strong, serious I was wrong當作家想表達強烈、嚴肅的「我錯了」時， stronger than I regret it比 I regret it 更強烈。 Regret can be about bad luckRegret可能是因為運氣不好 (I regret that it rained)（I regret that it rained，下雨了很可惜這種事）。 Repent is about your own choiceRepent 講的是你自己的選擇， and而且 about the heart turning around是內心的轉變。
It is an old, somewhat heavy word. Friends almost never say I repent over a small thing; they say I'm sorry or I feel bad about it. Keep this word for big wrongs, or for religious talk.
It is an old, somewhat heavy word這是一個老式、有點沉重的字。 Friends almost never say I repent over a small thing朋友之間幾乎不會為了小事說 I repent； they say I'm sorry or I feel bad about it而是會說 I'm sorry 或 I feel bad about it。 Keep this word for big wrongs, or for religious talk這個字留給大過錯，或宗教話題使用就好。
The usual pattern is repent of something, or just repent, with no object.
The usual pattern is repent of something通常的用法是 repent of something, or just repent, with no object或者不接受詞，單獨用 repent 就好。
組成From Middle English repenten, from Old French repentir, from Vulgar Latin *repaenitīre, from Late Latin paenitīre, from Classical Latin paenitēre, to feel sorry. French still has repentir.
同家族的字
- repentancethe noun: the feeling or act of being sorry in this way
- repentantthe adjective: a person who feels this
- unrepentantthe opposite: not sorry at all
- penitentfrom the same Latin root for feeling sorry; more church-and-old-book in feel
原始詞典資料8 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，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。
repentverb詞源 1/ɹɪˈpɛnt/
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To feel pain, sorrow, or regret for what one has done or omitted to do; the cause for repenting may be indicated with "of".
- Marry in haste, repent at leisure.
- Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
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lifestylereligiontheologyTo be sorry for sin as morally evil, and to seek forgiveness; to cease to practice sin and to love.
- ... Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
- Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
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To feel pain on account of; to remember with sorrow.
- If Aljunied decides to go that way (to vote for the Workers' Party), well Aljunied has five years to live and repent.
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To be sorry for, to regret.
- I repent my sins.
- And what I ſaid in time of our buſines I repent not, And if it were to ſpeake againe, Euerie word ſhould be a whole ſermon, So much I repent me.
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archaicTo cause to have sorrow or regret.
- at that time she wolde nat, she seyde, for she was syke and myght nat ryde. "That me repentith," seyde the kynge[…].
- And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
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obsoleteTo cause (oneself) to feel pain or regret.
- But if that I knewe what his name hight, For clatering of me I would him ſone quight; For his falſe lying, of that I ſpake never, I could make him ſhortly repent him forever: […]
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archaicTo change one's mind.
- The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
repentadj詞源 2/ˈɹiːpənt/
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biologybotanynatural-sciencesCreeping along the ground.
- The pennated, repent and ferine entities of the boscage, are ousels, shellducks, […] and ursine quadrupeds.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。