payment vs penance

payment

noun
  • An instance of that act; a sum of money paid in exchange for goods or services, or the transaction that conveys it. 

  • Antonyms: non-payment, nonpayment 

  • The act of paying. 

penance

noun
  • A voluntary self-imposed punishment for a sinful act or wrongdoing. It may be intended to serve as reparation for the act. 

  • Any instrument of self-punishment. 

  • A sacrament in some Christian churches. 

verb
  • To impose penance; to punish. 

How often have the words payment and penance occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )