[pen.i.ten.tia.ry] n, pl -ries [ME penitenciary, fr. ML poenitentiarius, fr. poenitentia] (15c) 1 a: an officer in some Roman Catholic dioceses vested with power from the bishop to deal with cases of a nature normally handled only by the bishop b cap: a cardinal presiding over a tribunal of the Roman curia concerned with dispensations and indulgences
2: a public institution in which offenders against the law are confined for detention or punishment; specif: a state or federal prison in the U.S.
[2]pen.i.ten.tia.ry adj (1577) 1: penitential
2: of, relating to, or incurring confinement in a penitentiary