confession
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (5)confessions
- an admission of misdeeds or faultsType of admissionKinds self-accusation, self-condemnation
- a written document acknowledging an offense and signed by the guilty partyType of document, written document
- (Roman Catholic Church) the act of a penitent disclosing their sinfulness before a priest in the sacrament of penance in the hope of absolutionType of penanceKinds shrift
- a public declaration of your faithType of declaration
- the document that spells out the belief system of a given church (especially the Reformation churches of the 16th century)Type of religious doctrine, church doctrineExamples Augsburg Confession
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: F. confession, L. confessio.
1. Acknowledgment; avowal, especially in a matter pertaining to one's self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime.
With a crafty madness keeps aloof, When we would bring him on to some confession Of his true state.— William Shakespeare
2. Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.
With the mouth confession is made unto salvation.— Rom. x. 10.
3. Church The act of disclosing sins or faults to a priest in order to obtain sacramental absolution.
Auricular confession... or the private and special confession of sins to a priest for the purpose of obtaining his absolution.— Henry Hallam
4. 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.
5. Law 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. Francis Wharton
Confession and avoidance Law, a mode of pleading in which the party confesses the facts as stated by his adversary, but alleges some new matter by way of avoiding the legal effect claimed for them. Mozley & W.
Confession of faith, a formulary containing the articles of faith; a creed. — General confession, the confession of sins made by a number of persons in common, as in public prayer. — Westminster Confession. See Westminster Assembly, under Assembly.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54