confession
/kənˈfɛʃən/ noun
Forms confessions confessione
- noun The open admittance of having done something (especially something bad). “Without the real murderer's confession, an innocent person could be jailed.”
- noun A formal document providing such an admission. “He forced me to sign a confession!”
- noun (Christianity) The disclosure of one's sins to a priest for absolution. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is now also termed the sacrament of reconciliation. “I went to confession and now I feel much better about what I had done.”
- noun Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.
- noun 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.
- noun (chiefly Japanese media) The act of professing one's love.
Etymology
From Middle English confessioun, from Old French confession, from Latin cōnfessiō, cōnfessiōnem (“confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of one's faith”). Displaced native Old English andetnes. Doublet of confessio.
Morphologically confess + -ion.
Sense 6 is a calque of 告白 (kokuhaku).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Acknowledgment; avowal, especially in a matter pertaining to one's self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime.
- noun Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.
Etymology [F. confession, L. confessio.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “confession”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details