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Origin and history of confess

confess(v.)

late 14c., transitive and intransitive, "make avowal or admission of" (a fault, crime, sin, debt, etc.), from Old French confesser (transitive and intransitive), from Vulgar Latin *confessare, a frequentative form from Latin confess-, past participle stem of confiteri "to acknowledge," from assimilated form of com "together" (see con-) + fateri "to admit," akin to fari "speak," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak, tell, say."

Its original religious sense was in reference to one who avows his religion in spite of persecution or danger but does not suffer martyrdom (compare confessor). Old French confesser thus had also a figurative sense of "to harm, hurt, make suffer." Related: Confessed; confessing. An Old English word for it was andettan.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to confess

confessed(adj.)

"self-acknowledged, admitted," 1560s, past-participle adjective from confess. Related: Confessedly.

confessor(n.)

late Old English, "one who avows his religion," especially in the face of danger, but does not suffer martyrdom, from Latin confessor, agent noun from past-participle stem of confiteri "to acknowledge" (see confess). Meaning "one who hears confessions" is from mid-14c.; this properly would be Latin confessarius, but Latin confessor was being used in this sense from the 9th century. Meaning "one who admits to a crime" is from 1690s.

Edward the Confessor (c. 1003-1066, canonized 1161), the late Anglo-Saxon king, lived a pious life and died with the reputation of sanctity but does not seem to fit his title; perhaps he was so called to distinguish him from another Anglo-Saxon saint/king, Edward the Martyr (c. 962-979), who better fits his.

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confession
late 14c., confessioun, "action of confessing, acknowledgment of a fault or wrong," originally in religion, "the disclosing of sins or faults to a priest as one of the four parts of the sacrament of penance," from Old French confession (10c.), from Latin confessionem (nominative
concede
1630s, "to make a concession of, yield up" (transitive), from French concéder or directly from Latin concedere "give way, yield, go away, depart, retire," figuratively "agree, consent, give precedence," from con-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see con-), + cedere "to go, gran
profess
early 14c., professen, "to take a vow" (in a religious order), a back-formation from profession or else from Medieval Latin professare, from professus "avowed," literally "having declared publicly," past participle of Latin profiteri "declare openly, testify voluntarily, acknowle
shrive
"write; impose penance;" Old Dutch scrivan, Dutch schrijven, German schreiben "to write, draw, paint;" Danish skrifte "confess...Latin scribere "to write" (from PIE root *skribh- "to cut"), which in Old English and Scandinavian developed further to "confess...
craven
sense, apparently affected by crave, shifted from "defeated" to "cowardly" (c. 1400) perhaps via intermediary sense of "confess...
floricide
Frankly do I confess that I dislike a wanton floricide....
shrift
Short shrift (1590s) originally was the brief time for a condemned criminal to confess before execution in a sentence of...
admit
late 14c., admitten, "let in," from Latin admittere "admit, give entrance, allow to enter; grant an audience," of acts, "let be done, allow, permit," from ad "to" (see ad-) + mittere "let go, send" (see mission). The sense of "concede in argument as valid or true" is recorded by
fink
1902, of uncertain origin, possibly from German Fink "a frivolous or dissolute person," originally "a finch" (see finch); the German word also had a sense of "informer" (compare stool pigeon). The other theory traces it to Pinks, short for Pinkerton agents, the private police for
acknowledge
late 15c., "admit or show one's knowledge," a blend of Middle English aknow "admit or show one's knowledge" and Middle English knowlechen "admit, acknowledge" (c. 1200; see knowledge). Middle English aknow is from Old English oncnawan "understand, come to recognize," from on (see

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