confessor
UK /kənˈfɛsə/ · US /kənˈfɛsɚ/ noun
Forms confessors confessour
- noun One who confesses faith in Christianity in the face of persecution, but who is not martyred. “Long before Edward I, the English had a King Edward who they considered a martyr and a King Edward who they considered a confessor.”
- noun One who confesses to having done something wrong.
- noun (Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism) A priest who hears confession and then gives absolution.
- noun (by extension, figurative) Someone who acts as listener and helper.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English confessor, confessour, from Anglo-Norman confessour, and its source, Latin cōnfessor, from cōnfiteor (“confess, admit, acknowledge”). By surface analysis, confess + -or.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One who confesses; one who acknowledges a fault, or the truth of a charge, at the risk of suffering; specifically, one who confesses himself a follower of Christ and endures persecution for his faith.
- noun A priest who hears the confessions of others and is authorized to grant them absolution.
Etymology [OF. confessor, F. confesseur, fr. L. & LL. confessor.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “confessor”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details