confess, v.
(kənˈfɛs)
Forms: 4 confessen, 4–7 -fesse, (7 -fese), 5– confess; pa. tense and pa. pple. -ed; also 6–9 confest.
[a. OF. confesse-r (12th c. in Littré), (= Pr. confessar, Sp. confesar, It. confessare, med.L. confessare):—late L. confessāre = *confessārī, freq. of confitērī, ppl. stem confess-, to acknowledge, own, avow, confess, f. con- intensive + fatērī, fass- to utter, declare, disclose, manifest, avow, acknowledge, prob. from the same root as fārī to speak, utter; cf. Gr. ϕᾰτός, L. fātus spoken, fātum utterance, fātāri (freq.) to speak much.]
I. generally.
1. trans. To declare or disclose (something which one has kept or allowed to remain secret as being prejudicial or inconvenient to oneself); to acknowledge, own, or admit (a crime, charge, fault, weakness, or the like). Also absol.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 486 Myn harm I wol confessen er I pace. 1526 Tindale John i. 20 And he confessed and denyed not, and sayde playnly: I am not Christ. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 34 Bass. Promise me life, and ile confesse the truth. Por. Well then, confesse and liue. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 1100 And both confess'd..thir faults, and pardon beg'd. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 34 Shall we go back again to my Lord, and confess our folly? 1706 Prior Ode to Queen 92 Human faults with human griefs confess; 'Tis thou art chang'd. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus vi. 16 Whatever is yours to tell or ill or Good, confess it. 1877 Mozley Univ. Serm. x. 205 Some will confess this of themselves, and confess it with a kind of pride. |
† b. refl. To make oneself known, disclose one's identity. Obs.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 184 She her wolde nought confesse, Whan they her axen what she was. |
c. with subord. clause stating the thing confessed.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. xiv. 44 Ðe Byschape þan confessyd, how he..gat entre. 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. 1883–4 V. 297 The poore fellow would rather..confesse hee crucified Iesus Christ, then abide it [the torture] any longer. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. i. 5 He does confesse he feeles himselfe distracted. a 1699 A. Halkett Autobiog. (1875) 3, I confese I was guilty of disobedience. 1814 Southey Roderick x, Confessing how the love Which thus began in innocence, betray'd My unsuspecting heart. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xiii. (1878) 283, I have to confess that I loved Miss Oldcastle. |
d. with obj. and inf. compl.
(The object may be suppressed when a refl. pron., and the infinitive when to be.)
| 1571 in H. Campbell Love-Lett. Mary Q. Scots (1824) 10 James Erle of Mortoun..grantit and confessit him to have ressavit from the said Lord Regent an silver box. 1608 Shakes. Per. v. iii. 2, I here confess myself the king of Tyre. 1628 Discov. Jesuit's Coll. in Camd. Misc. (1852) 22 They confessed themselves to be recusants. 1647 W. Browne tr. Polexander ii. 103, I confesse to measure things by the rules of common wisdome. 1655 Theophania 88, I confess myself as ignorant..as unable, etc. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. ii. §4, I confess myself to be rather..confounded than convinced. |
e. Often introducing a statement made in the form of a disclosure of private feeling or opinion; e.g. ‘I confess that I have my doubts about it’, i.e. I must say that I have, etc.
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 72 If the Pope, sayde he..wrought this revenge for me, I confesse it offendeth me nothing. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 254 This exercise, I must confesse, is laborious and painefull. 1632 Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 18 The hazard I confesse is great. 1653 Walton Angler Ep. Ded. 5, I do here freely confess, that I should rather excuse my self, then censure others. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 124 ¶3, I must confess I am amazed that the Press should be only made use of in this Way. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 10, I confess that I was quite astonished at his beauty. |
2. To acknowledge, concede, grant, admit for oneself (an assertion or claim, that might be challenged). Const. as in 1 c, d.
| c 1450 Castle Hd. Life St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4864 He cryed orrybelly and confest clene saint cuthbert halynes. 1535 Coverdale Eccl. ii. 15, I confessed within my harte, that this also was but vanite. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxx. §9 That very law of nature itself which all men confess to be Gods law. 1653 Walton Angler To Rdr., I did not undertake to write, or to publish this..to please myself..for, I have confest there are many defects in it. 1771 Junius Lett. xlviii. 252 You confess that parliaments are fallible. 1872 E. Peacock Mabel Heron I. vii. 118 A distorted knowledge, it must be confessed, of religious duty. 1875 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. xii. (ed. 5) 189 The Kings of Cyprus and Armenia sent to Henry VI to confess themselves his vassals and ask his help. |
3. To acknowledge one's belief that, to avow formally, esp. as an article of faith.
| 1509 Fisher Fun. Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. 309 [She] confessed assuredly, that in the sacrament was conteyned cryst Ihesu. 1526 Tindale John ix. 22 That yf eny man dyd confesse that he was Christ, he shuld be excommunicat. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Athan. Creed, The ryght fayth is that we beleue and confesse: that our Lorde Jesus Christe the sonne of God, is God and man. |
4. To acknowledge or formally recognize (a person or thing) as having a certain character or certain claims; to own, avow, declare belief in or adhesion to.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 259 b, Herken to y⊇ gospell, and with all your herte confesse the same. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, Al they that do confesse thy holy name. 1557 N. T. (Genev.) Matt. x. 32 Whosoeuer therfore shal confesse me before men, him will I confesse [earlier vv. knowledge] also before my father which is in heauen. 1650 Jer. Taylor Holy Living (1727) 224 We profess it in our Creed, we confess it in our lives. 1848 A. Jameson Sacr. & Leg. Art (1850) 361 He whom I confess and adore. 1857 Ruskin Pol. Econ. Art 20 We have long confessed it with our lips, though we refuse to confess it in our lives. |
5. fig. To make known or reveal by circumstances; to be evidence of; to manifest, prove, attest. (poet.)
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. ii, Whose wayes..confess no circumscription. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. Title-p., Thy great endeavors..do confess thou act'st som great design. 1682 Dryden Medal 81 And shews the Fiend confess'd without a veil. 1700 Blackmore Job 53 Mighty sufferings mighty guilt confess. 1715 Pope Iliad ii. 219 The voice divine confess'd the warlike maid. 1816 Southey Lay of Laureate, Dream 58 In re-appearing light confess'd, There stood another Minister of bliss. 1822 Scott Pirate xvi, Even the..strong-headed Magnus himself had confessed the influence of the sleepy god. |
6. intr. confess to (a thing): To plead guilty to (a charge), own to (a fault or weakness); to admit, acknowledge. With indirect pass.
| 1771 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. III. 26 These charges he..denied; but he confessed to one of as heinous a nature. 1776 Johnson in Boswell 23 Mar., He confesses to one bottle of port every day, and he probably drinks more. 1840 Lever H. Lorrequer vi, I have already ‘confessed’ to my crying sin..to follow the humour of the moment. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xii. 193 He had to confess to a certain sense of failure. 1888 F. Hume Mad. Midas i. x, A..damsel, who was thirty-five years of age, and confessed to twenty-two. |
b. The use of the verbal n. in this construction appears to arise out of that of the infinitive as in 1 d, etc.: cf. the series to confess himself to have (1571, in 1 d), confess to have, confess to having, of which the last is now most frequent. In some cases also confess to appears to be short for confess to have (or having), as in to confess to [having] a dread: cf. the following.
| 1829 Southey Sir T. More I. 244, I confess to having made free with his tail and his hoofs and his horns. 1845 E. Warburton Cresc. & Cross (1846) I. Pref. ix, I confess to have borrowed freely. 1856 F. E. Paget Owlet 71 Mrs. Brunt confessed to having a natural antipathy to the..Curate. 1865 Thirlwall Lett. (1881) II. 47, I confess to a personal dread of frost. 1879 Scribner's Mag. XIX. 1/1, I confess to finding no little pleasure in [such] explorations. [Cf. ‘I confess to measure’, in 1 d, 1647.] |
II. spec.
7. Law. a. intr. To admit the truth of what is charged; to make a confession. to confess and avoid: to admit a charge, but show it to be invalid in law. b. trans. To admit (a thing) as proved, or legally valid.
| 1586 Thynne in Holinshed III. 1272/1, I determine..to confesse and avoid..whatsoever imperfections have now distilled out of my pen. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 235 The good orator..will first admit it and in th'end auoid all for his better aduantage, and this figure is much vsed by our English pleaders in the Starchamber and Chancery, which they call to confesse and auoid. 1658–9 Burton's Diary (1828) III. 37 He may confess and avoid, confess and justify, or confess and mitigate. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 271 Lord Bolingbroke, by a bond dated 24th July 1770, with warrant of attorney to confess judgment..became bound to the lessee. Ibid. V. 289 Though the defendant should appear to it, and confess lease, entry, and ouster. 1839 Keightley Hist. Eng. II. 40 Certain just and legal impediments then confessed on her part. |
8. Eccl. To acknowledge sins orally as a religious duty, with repentance and desire of absolution. a. trans. (Not orig. distinct from the general sense in 1.)
| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶938 It is reson þat he þat trespasseth by his free wyl that by his free wyl he confesse his trespas. 1535 Coverdale Lev. xvi. 21 Then shal Aaron laie both his handes vpon y⊇ heade of him [the goate], and confesse ouer him all the myszdedes of y⊇ children of Israel. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, That you confesse with an unfained hearte to almightie God, youre synnes and unkyndnes towardes his Maiestie committed. Ibid., Let him come to me, or to some other dyscrete and learned priest..and confesse and open his synne and griefe secretly. 1611 Bible Jas. v. 16 Confesse your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that yee may bee healed. 1687 Abp. Wake Prep. for Death (J.), If our sin be only against God, yet to confess it to his minister may be of good use. |
b. refl. To make formal confession of sins, esp. to a priest, in order to receive penance and absolution.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 53 Go confesse þe to sum frere and shewe hym þi synnes. c 1400 Rom. Rose 7697 If ye woll you now confesse, And leve your sinnes more and lesse. c 1511 1st Eng. Bk. Amer. Introd. (Arb.) 30/2 They confesse them to God alone and none prestes. 15.. Knt. of Curtesy 451 in Ritson Metr. Rom. III. 215 She confessed her devoutly tho, And shortely receyved the Sacrament. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, Bewail your own sinful lives, confess yourselves to Almighty God with full purpose of amendment of life. 1704 Addison Italy 6 Our Captain thought his Ship in so great Danger, that he fell upon his Knees and confess'd himself to a Capuchin..on Board. 1850 A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 265 The young count..confessed himself, set his house in order. |
c. with of. Also in transf. sense.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶245 He moste confessen hym of alle the condiciouns that bilongen to his synne. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 89 In this wise I me confesse Of that ye clepe unbuxomnesse. 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 53 Confesse thee freely of thy sinne. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. i. (1646) 75 They confesse themselves of all their sinnes to the Priest. |
d. intr. in same sense as the refl.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. i. 23 Par. Come you to make confession to this Father? Jul. To answere that, I should confesse to you. 1812 J. Brady Clavis Cal. (1815) I. 210 Prior to the Reformation every communicant..was obliged individually to confess to his parish priest. 1880 Ouida Moths II. 314 For she does go to confess. |
9. trans. Of the priest: To hear the confession of, to act as a confessor to, to shrive. Also absol.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 76 Ich haue moche merueille..Why ȝowre couent coueyteth to confesse and to burye, Rather þan to baptise barnes. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour A vj, The preest cam and confessid him. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxii. 217 He confessyd Huon and assoylled hym of all his synnes. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. v. 533, I haue confes'd her, and I know her vertue. 1771 Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 63 A priest visited her, to confess her every day. 1889 Tablet 28 Dec. 1053, I went to see and confess an old man. |
| absol. 1840 Macaulay Ranke Ess. (1851) II. 141 The faithful servant of the Church was preaching, catechising, confessing, beyond the Niemen. |
b. pass. Of the penitent: To be shriven: often = 8 b. to be confessed of: to be assoiled of by confession.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2391 Þou art confessed so clene, be-knowen of þy mysses. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xcv. 425 (Add. MS.) A grete man..that was not confessid of a longe tyme. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xi. iv, I counceyle yow said the kynge to be confessid clene. As for that said sire Bors I wille be shryuen with a good wylle. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxiii. 260, I know one [synne]..the whiche as yet ye were neuer confessyd of. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 346 A Peasant..was confessed, and receiued the Sacrament. |
10. confess and be hanged: a proverbial phrase, found with variations and frequent allusive application in 16–17th c.
It is uncertain whether the ‘confess’ referred originally to shriving or to confession of crime. From the Pepys quot., the use of the expression appears to have been a degree ruder than saying ‘You lie’.
| c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. ii, Blame not us, but the proverb,—Confess and be hanged. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. i. 38 To confesse and be hang'd for his labour. First to be hang'd, and then to confesse. 1662 Pepys Diary 8 Sept., The young Queen [Katherine] answered, ‘You lye’; which was the first English word that I ever heard her say: which made the King good sport; and he would have taught her to say in English, ‘Confess and be hanged’. 1662 Fuller Worthies (1811) II. 407 The simple Earl was perswaded..to confess the fact..and so..soon after found the Proverb true, ‘Confess, and be beheaded’. |