repentance

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act or process of repenting.
2. n. Remorse or contrition for past conduct or sin. See Synonyms at penitence.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of repenting; the state of being penitent; sorrow or contrition for what one has done or left undone.
2. n. In theology, a change of mental and spiritual habit respecting sin, involving a hatred of and sorrow because of it, and a hearty and genuine abandonment of it in conduct of life.
3. n. Synonyms Repentance, Penitence, Contrition, Compunction, Regret, Remorse, may express the sorrowful feeling of the wrong-doer in view of his conduct. Regret is quite as often used of wishing that one had not done that which is unwise; as applied to misconduct, it expresses the feeblest degree of sorrow for doing wrong; but it may contain no element of real repentance. Repentance goes beyond feeling to express distinct purposes of turning from sin to righteousness; the Bible word most often translated repentance means a change of mental and spiritual attitude toward sin. Strictly, repentance is the beginning of amendment of life; the word does not imply any greater degree of feeling than is necessary to bring about a change, whether the turning be from a particular sin or from an attitude of sin. Penitence implies a large measure of feeling, and applies more exclusively than repentance to wrong-doing as an offense against God and right. Contrition, literally breaking or bruising, is essentially the same as penitence; it is a deep, quiet, and continued sorrow, chiefly for specific acts. Compunction, literally pricking, is a sharp pang of regret or self-reproach, often momentary and not always resulting in moral benefit. It is more likely than remorse to result in good. Remorse, literally gnawing, is naturally sharper mental suffering than compunction; the word often suggests a sort of spiritual despair or hopelessness, paralyzing one for efforts to attain repentance.

Wiktionary

1. n. The condition of being penitent
2. n. A feeling of regret or remorse for doing wrong or sinning

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of repenting, or the state of being penitent; sorrow for what one has done or omitted to do; especially, contrition for sin.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. remorse for your past conduct