in contemporary usage, one who has discovered his spiritual heritage and its responsibilities when already an adult

(lit. "master of return"): a person who turns to G-d in repentance, after willful or unknowing transgression of the Torah's commandments

( pl. baalei teshuvah): One who returns to G-d; a penitent who returns to the Torah way of life after having been astray.

(pl., baalei teshuvah)(lit., "penitent"): this is the classical meaning of the term; today it is commonly misused to describe anyone who was simply born in an environment of ignorance, and who has taken the courageous initiative to come and claim his spiritual heritage when already a young adult; in the more precise terminology of the Sages (as in Shabbos 68b), such an individual is called "an infant taken into captivity among the heathen nations"

(lit. "master of return"; pl. baalei teshuvah): a person who turns to G-d in repentance