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Word Study
confession
CIDE DICTIONARY
confession, n. [F. confession, L. confessio.].
- Acknowledgment; avowal, especially in a matter pertaining to one's self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime. [1913 Webster]"With a crafty madness keeps aloof,
When we would bring him on to some confession
Of his true state." [1913 Webster] - Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith. [1913 Webster]"With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." [1913 Webster]
- The act of disclosing sins or faults to a priest in order to obtain sacramental absolution. [1913 Webster]"Auricular confession . . . or the private and special confession of sins to a priest for the purpose of obtaining his absolution." [1913 Webster]
- A formulary 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. [1913 Webster]
- An admission by a party to whom an act is imputed, in relation to such act. A judicial confession settles the issue to which it applies; an extrajudical confession may be explained or rebutted. Wharton. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
confession, n.
1 a confessing or acknowledgement of a fault, wrongdoing, a sin to a priest, etc. b an instance of this. c a thing confessed.
2 (in full confession of faith) a a declaration of one's religious beliefs. b a statement of one's principles.
1 a confessing or acknowledgement of a fault, wrongdoing, a sin to a priest, etc. b an instance of this. c a thing confessed.
2 (in full confession of faith) a a declaration of one's religious beliefs. b a statement of one's principles.
Derivative
confessionary adj.
Etymology
ME f. OF f. L confessio -onis (as confess)
THESAURUS
confession
abject apology, acceptance, acknowledgment, adherents, admission, agape, allowance, apology, appreciation, asperges, aspersion, auricular confession, avowal, bar mitzvah, bas mitzvah, breast-beating, by-line, celebration, church, circumcision, citation, class, communion, concession, confession of faith, confirmation, contrition, credit line, declaration, declaration of faith, denomination, disciples, excuse, faith, followers, high celebration, incense, invocation, invocation of saints, ism, kiss of peace, lesser litany, litany, love feast, lustration, mea culpa, order, owning, owning up, pax, penitence, persuasion, processional, profession, reciting the rosary, recognition, reference, regrets, rite of confession, school, sect, shrift, signature, telling of beads, the confessional, the confessionary, trademark, tribute, unbosomingROGET THESAURUS
confession
Penitence
N penitence, contrition, compunction, repentance, remorse, regret, self-reproach, self-reproof, self-accusation, self-condemnation, self-humiliation, stings of conscience, pangs of conscience, qualms of conscience, prickings of conscience, twinge of conscience, twitch of conscience, touch of conscience, voice of conscience, compunctious visitings of nature, acknowledgment, confession, apology, recantation, penance, resipiscence, awakened conscience, deathbed repentance, locus paenitentiae, stool of repentance, cuttystool, penitent, repentant, Magdalen, prodigal son, a sadder and a wiser man, penitent, repenting, repentant, contrite, conscience- smitten, conscience-stricken, self-accusing, self-convicted, penitential, penitentiary, reclaimed, reborn, not hardened, unhardened, mea culpa, peccavi, erubuit, salva res est, Tu l'as voulu, Georges Dandin, and wet his grave with my repentant tears.Disclosure
N disclosure, retection, unveiling, deterration, revealment, revelation, exposition, exposure, expose, whole truth, telltale, acknowledgment, avowal, confession, confessional, shrift, bursting of a bubble, denouement, tattletale, snitch, fink, stool pigeon, canary, disclosed, open, public, Int, out with it!, the murder is out, a light breaks in upon one, the scales fall from one's eyes, the eyes are opened.Also see definition of "confession" in Bible Study Dictionaries
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