confess

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English confessen, borrowed from Old French confesser,^[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *cōnfessō, a verb formed on Latin cōnfessus, the past participle of cōnfiteor (“to acknowledge, avow”),^[5][6][7] from com- (intensive) and fateor (“to admit, declare”),^[5][2][8] which is related to for (“to speak”).^[5][9][7] In Anglo-Norman the verb is found from the early 13th century.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To admit something kept secret because it was damaging, such as a fault or crime: about 1377 to 1378, in a version of Piers Plowman,^[8][3] and in Chaucer's Squire's Tale (c. 1386).^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the verb covered both admitting a fault and the religious act of telling one's sins to a priest, and a priest was said to confess or shrive the penitent.^[9][4] From 1509 it also meant to declare one's faith, and to acknowledge a person or thing from 1526, a sense behind confessor, one who avowed his religion under persecution, as in Edward the Confessor.^[3][11] The softer "I confess" that only introduces an opinion is found from 1569, and confess to a fault from 1771.^[3] In Scots a bottle was said to confess when it was drained to the last drop.^[12]

Timeline

• c. 1377 – to admit a fault or secret.^[3][8]
• c. 1450 – to concede a claim.^[3]
• 1509 – to avow as an article of faith.^[3]
• 1569 – I confess introducing an opinion.^[3]
• 1646 – figurative, to reveal or show, in poetry.^[3]
• 1771 – confess to a charge or weakness.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To admit a fault, crime or something one is ashamed of: He confessed to taking the keys.
2. To acknowledge that something is true, often reluctantly: I confess I never liked the place.
3. (Christianity) To declare one's sins to God or a priest to receive absolution; of a priest, to hear someone's confession.
4. To declare one's faith in.

Word family

• confessable
• confessingly
• fess
• self-confessed
• unconfessing

Related words

• confession
• confessional
• confessor
• profess
• fable
• fame
• fate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)