confession

[kuhn-fesh-uhn]

noun

1. acknowledgment; avowal; admission.

   a confession of incompetence.

2. acknowledgment or disclosure of sin or sinfulness, especially to a priest to obtain absolution.

3. something that is confessed.

4. a formal, usually written, acknowledgment of guilt by a person accused of a crime.

5. Also called confession of faith. a formal profession of belief and acceptance of doctrines, as before being admitted to church membership.

6. the tomb of a martyr or confessor or the altar or shrine connected with it.

confession

/ kənˈfɛʃən /

noun

1. the act of confessing

2. something confessed

3. an acknowledgment or declaration, esp of one's faults, misdeeds, or crimes

4. Christianity RC Church the act of a penitent accusing himself or herself of his or her sins

5. a formal public avowal of religious beliefs

6. a religious denomination or sect united by a common system of beliefs

confession

1. In some church es, notably the Roman Catholic Church, a sacrament in which repentant sinners individually or as a group privately confess their sins in front of a priest and receive absolution from the guilt of their sins. In the first few centuries of Christianity, repentant sinners were assigned public penances: sinners had to stay outside the entrance of the church and ask the people going inside to pray for them. The period of public penance could be shortened through an indulgence.

Other Word Forms

• preconfession noun
• confessionary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of confession¹

1350–1400; < Latin confessiōn- (stem of confessiō ), equivalent to confess- ( confess ) + -iōn- -ion; replacing Middle English confessioun < Anglo-French

Example Sentences

The hour begins with a long confession and ends with absolution — for Mare, who at last forgives herself, and for a boy guilty of murder who shouldn’t have to lose his innocence.

From Salon

"Sometimes when you make an accusation, it's kind of a confession, Mr Kennedy," Hassan said.

From BBC

The court said the teenager made a full confession to the charges.

From BBC

They hit Knox several times, coercing her to sign a written confession in Italian, which she barely understood.

From Salon

That is the well-worn path of sinners come to confession, or, in secular terms, Whittaker Chambers renouncing his allegiance to Stalin.

From Salon

Related Words

• acknowledgment 
• admission 
• assertion 
• concession 
• disclosure 
• proclamation 
• revelation 
• statement 
• story