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. confession of faith
   confession of faith 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 .

Derived Forms

• conˈfessionary, adjective

Other Words From

• precon·fession noun

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

In his court confession, Yin Hongzhang said he mentioned to Yin Weidong in 2002 that he wanted to buy a car, drawing a $15,200 cash gift from the executive.

From Washington Post

A pattern soon emerged of SARS extorting civilians or detaining and torturing them into giving confessions.

From Time

Don’t lead with the information as if it’s some kind of confession.

From Fortune

A product of the tough-on-crime era of the 1980s and 1990s, she was slow to respond to a stunning series of false confessions and wrongful convictions.

From ProPublica

The same day, he also posted a more straightforward confession on his real blog.

From MIT Technology Review

Outside of Iran, Rigi's “confession” seemed like another in the long tradition of statements extracted from prisoners there.

From The Daily Beast

In the course of his confession, he supplied details that should only have been known to the killer.

From The Daily Beast

His belief that officers really did find his fingerprints at the scene seems to have encouraged his false confession.

From The Daily Beast

And that confession is said by police to have been just the start.

From The Daily Beast

He signed a written confession after an hour and 45 minutes.

From The Daily Beast

It was on an occasion of the death of a man in this city by stabbing, who begged loudly for confession.

From Project Gutenberg

They will try to compel you to confession; and, though you are blameless, you will suffer the cruelest ordeal of transgression.

From Project Gutenberg

The narrative had excited him out of his apathy and physical exhaustion, the confession shaken the rigidity from his mind.

From Project Gutenberg

And the question would always remain if the highest honor would not have commanded confession.

From Project Gutenberg

Was it the threat of Tony's near arrival that made her confession—and his dismissal—at last inevitable?

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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