Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Confess
Con-fess′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Confessed
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Confessing
.] 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
Humbly our faults, and pardon beg.
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
And let him
confess
a truth. Shakespeare
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.
(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.
Syn. – Admit; grant; concede; avow; own; assent; recognize; prove; exhibit; attest.
–
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. Con-fess′
,Verb.
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
(And I
confess
with right) you think me bound. Tennyson.
Webster 1828 Edition
Confess
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'
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2024
confess
confess
English
Verb
confess (third-person singular simple present confesses, present participle confessing, simple past and past participle confessed)
- To admit to the truth, particularly in the context of sins or crimes committed.
- I confess to spray-painting all over that mural!
- I confess, that I am a sinner.
- Shakespeare
- I never gave it him. Send for him hither, / And let him confess a truth.
- Milton
- And there confess / Humbly our faults, and pardon beg.
- Addison
- I must confess I was most pleased with a beautiful prospect that none of them have mentioned.
- To acknowledge faith in; to profess belief in.
- Bible, Matthew x. 32
- Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess, also, before my Father which is in heaven.
- Bible, Acts xxiii. 8
- For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.
- Bible, Matthew x. 32
- (religion) To unburden (oneself) of sins to God or a priest, in order to receive absolution.
- Addison
- Our beautiful votary took an opportunity of confessing herself to this celebrated father.
- Addison
- (religion) To hear or receive such a confession of sins from.
- Ld. Berners
- He […] heard mass, and the prince, his son, with him, and the most part of his company were confessed.
- Ld. Berners
- To disclose or reveal.
- Alexander Pope
- Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mould.
- Alexander Pope
Related terms
Derived terms
Translations
to admit to the truth
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to disclose or reveal
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