Confession

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kÉ™nˈfɛʃən/

Origin

From Old French, from Latin cōnfessiō ("confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of one's faith").

Noun

1. The open admittance of having done something (especially of something bad).Without the real murderer's confession, an innocent person will go to jail.
• ShakespeareWith a crafty madness keeps aloof,
  When we would bring him on to some confession
  Of his true state.
2. (Roman Catholicism) the disclosure of one's sins to a priest for absolution. Now termed the sacrament of reconciliation.I went to confession and now I feel much better about what I had done.
• Shakespeare Romeo|III (First Folio ed.)Hauing diÅ¿pleaÅ¿'d my Father, to Lawrence Cell,
  To make confeſſion, and to be abſolu'd.
3. Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.
• Bible, Rom. x. 10With the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
4. A formula in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith.

Derived terms

• confessional
• nonconfession

Related terms

• confess