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Confess definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONFESS', v.t.[L., to own or acknowledge.]
1. To own, acknowledge or avow, as a crime, a fault, a charge, a debt, or something that is against one's interest, or reputation.
Human faults with human grief confess.
I confess the argument against me is good and not easily refuted.
let us frankly confess our sins.
"Confess thee freely of thy sins," used by Shakespeare, is not legitimate, unless in the sense of Catholics.
2. In the Catholic Church, to acknowledge sins and faults to a priest; to disclose the state of the conscience to a priest, in private, with a view to absolution; sometimes with the reciprocal pronoun.
The beautiful votary confessed herself to this celebrated father.
3. To own, avow or acknowledge; publicly to declare a belief in and adherence to.
Whoever shall confess me before men. Matthew 10.
4. To own and acknowledge, as true disciples, friends or children.
Him will I confess before my father who is heaven.
5. To own; to acknowledge; to declare to be true, or to admit or assent to in words; opposed to deny.
Then will I confess to thee, that thine own right hand can save thee. Job 11.
These-- confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth. Hebrews 11.
6. To show by the effect; to prove; to attest.
Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mold.
7. To hear or receive the confession of another; as, the priest confessed the nuns.
CONFESS', v.i. To make confession; to disclose faults, or the state of the conscience; as, this man went to the priest to confess.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure [syn: confess, squeal, fink]
2: admit (to a wrongdoing); "She confessed that she had taken the money" [syn: concede, profess, confess]
3: confess to God in the presence of a priest, as in the Catholic faith

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French confesser, from confés having confessed, from Latin confessus, past participle of confit?ri to confess, from com- + fat?ri to confess; akin to Latin fari to speak — more at ban Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to tell or make known (as something wrong or damaging to oneself) ; admit <he confessed his guilt> 2. a. to acknowledge (sin) to God or to a priest b. to receive the confession of (a penitent) 3. to declare faith in or adherence to ; profess 4. to give evidence of intransitive verb 1. a. to disclose one's faults; specifically to unburden one's sins or the state of one's conscience to God or to a priest b. to hear a confession 2. admit, own <confess to a crime> Synonyms: see acknowledge • confessable adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 a tr. (also absol.) acknowledge or admit (a fault, wrongdoing, etc.). b intr. (foll. by to) admit to (confessed to having lied). 2 tr. admit reluctantly (confessed it would be difficult). 3 a tr. (also absol.) declare (one's sins) to a priest. b tr. (of a priest) hear the confession of. c refl. declare one's sins to a priest. Etymology: ME f. OF confesser f. Rmc f. L confessus past part. of confiteri (as com-, fateri declare, avow)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Confess Con*fess", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Confessed; p. pr. & vb. n. Confessing.] [F. confesser, fr. L. confessus, p. p. of confiteri to confess; con- + fateri to confess; akin to fari to speak. See 2d Ban, Fame.] 1. To make acknowledgment or avowal in a matter pertaining to one's self; to acknowledge, own, or admit, as a crime, a fault, a debt. And there confess Humbly our faults, and pardon beg. --Milton. I must confess I was most pleased with a beautiful prospect that none of them have mentioned. --Addison. 2. To acknowledge faith in; to profess belief in. Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess, also, before my Father which is in heaven. --Matt. x. 32. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. --Acts xxiii. 8. 3. To admit as true; to assent to; to acknowledge, as after a previous doubt, denial, or concealment. I never gave it him. Send for him hither, And let him confess a truth. --Shak. As I confess it needs must be. --Tennyson. As an actor confessed without rival to shine. --Goldsmith. 4. (Eccl.) (a) To make known or acknowledge, as one's sins to a priest, in order to receive absolution; -- sometimes followed by the reflexive pronoun. Our beautiful votary took an opportunity of confessing herself to this celebrated father. --Addison. (b) To hear or receive such confession; -- said of a priest. He . . . heard mass, and the prince, his son, with him, and the most part of his company were confessed. --Ld. Berners. 5. To disclose or reveal, as an effect discloses its cause; to prove; to attest. Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mold. --Pope. Syn: Admit; grant; concede; avow; own; assent; recognize; prove; exhibit; attest. Usage: To Confess, Acknowledge, Avow. Acknowledge is opposed to conceal. We acknowledge what we feel must or ought to be made known. (See Acknowledge.) Avow is opposed to withhold. We avow when we make an open and public declaration, as against obloquy or opposition; as, to avow one's principles; to avow one's participation in some act. Confess is opposed to deny. We confess (in the ordinary sense of the word) what we feel to have been wrong; as, to confess one's errors or faults. We sometimes use confess and acknowledge when there is no admission of our being in the wrong; as, this, I confess, is my opinion; I acknowledge I have always thought so; but in these cases we mean simply to imply that others may perhaps think us in the wrong, and hence we use the words by way of deference to their opinions. It was in this way that the early Christians were led to use the Latin confiteor and confessio fidei to denote the public declaration of their faith in Christianity; and hence the corresponding use in English of the verb confess and the noun confession.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Confess Con*fess", v. i. 1. To make confession; to disclose sins or faults, or the state of the conscience. Every tongue shall confess to God. --Rom. xiv. 11. 2. To acknowledge; to admit; to concede. But since (And I confess with right) you think me bound. --Tennyson.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(confesses, confessing, confessed) 1. If someone confesses to doing something wrong, they admit that they did it. He had confessed to seventeen murders... I had expected her to confess that she only wrote these books for the money... Most rape victims confess a feeling of helplessness... Ray changed his mind, claiming that he had been forced into confessing... 'I played a very bad match,' he confessed. = admit ? deny VERB: V to n/-ing, V that, V n, V, V with quote 2. If someone confesses or confesses their sins, they tell God or a priest about their sins so that they can be forgiven. You just go to the church and confess your sins... Once we have confessed our failures and mistakes to God, we should stop feeling guilty. VERB: V n, V n to n 3. You use expressions like 'I confess', 'I must confess', or 'I have to confess' to apologize slightly for admitting something you are ashamed of or that you think might offend or annoy someone. I confess it's got me baffled... I must confess I'm not a great enthusiast for long political programmes. = admit PHRASE: PHR with cl [politeness]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Acknowledge (as a crime or fault), own, avow, admit. 2. Admit, grant, concede, recognize. 3. (Poetical.) Attest, prove, show, exhibit, manifest, be proof of. 4. Receive or hear one's confession (as a priest), shrive. II. v. n. Acknowledge one's sins (to a priest), go to the confessional.

Moby Thesaurus

absolve, accept, account for, accredit with, accrete to, acknowledge, administer absolution, administer extreme unction, admit, admit everything, affirm, agree provisionally, allow, apply to, ascribe to, assent grudgingly, assert, asseverate, assign to, attach to, attribute to, aver, avouch, avow, blame, blame for, blame on, bring home to, charge on, charge to, come clean, concede, confirm, connect with, cop a plea, credit with, declare, disclose, divulge, express general agreement, express the belief, fasten upon, father upon, fix on, fix upon, go along with, grant, hang on, hear confession, impute to, lay to, let on, make confession, not oppose, open up, out with it, own, own up, pin on, pinpoint, place upon, plead guilty, point to, profess, receive absolution, recognize, refer to, reveal, saddle on, saddle with, set down to, settle upon, shrive, spill, spill it, spit it out, state, swear, tell all, tell the truth, testify, vow, warrant, yield