▪ I. shrive, n. rare.
[f. next.]
Used for shrift n. 9.
| 1867 ‘Ouida’ Idalia viii, When they met again, he swore it should be for shorter shrive and deadlier work. |
▪ II. shrive, v. arch.
(ʃraɪv)
Pa. tense shrove (ʃrəʊv), pa. pple. shriven (ˈʃrɪv(ə)n). Forms: 1 scr{iacu}fan, 2–6 scrive, (3 ssriwe), 3–4 ssrive, -y-, screve, sc(h)rif, 3–6 schrive, -y-, 4 shrif(e, shryf(f)e, schreve, 4–5 schryf, 4–6 shryve, (5 schrywe, shrevy, 6 schriffe, Sc. schryif, schirryve, 6, 8–9 pseudo-arch. schrieve, 7 shreeve), 4– shrive. pa. tense 1 -scráf, 3–4 ssrof, 4– 5 schro(o)f, (4 shroof, schroff, shref (?), 5 shroff, shrofe, shroef, scherof, shrow), 4– shrove; north. 3–4 scraf, 4 s(c)hraf, 4–5 schrafe, 5 shraiff, shrafe, shrave, 6 schrave; weak. 4–5 s(c)hryved, 7–9 shrived. pa. pple. 1 ᵹescrifen, 2 iscrifen, 3 ischrive(n, 3–4 i-, ys(s)rive, 4–5 i-, ys(c)hryve(n; 3 shrifen, 3–4 scriven, 4 schrive(n, scryven, -wen, schrif(f)yne, schryfyne, 4–5 shrive, schreve, -yn, 4–6 s(c)hryve, -en, (5 schrifen, schryvin, shrivin, shrevyn, schrywe, screffe), 5–6 shreve(n, (6 schreven, -in, shereven, shervon, shryff); weak. 6 shriev'd, shriv'd, 9 shrived.
[Com. Teut. (wanting in Gothic): OE. scr{iacu}fan (-scráf, scrifon, ᵹe-scrifen), to allot, assign, decree, adjudge, impose as a sentence, impose penance, regard, care for, corresp. to OFris. scrîva (skref, skreven), to write, impose penance (WFris. skriuwe, skreau, skreaun, NFris. skriiw, skreew, skrewen, EFris. schriuwe to write), OS. skrîƀan to write, (M)LG. schrîven, schreev, schrêven, MDu. schrîven, screef, ghescrêven to write, paint, describe (Du. schrijven, schreef, geschreven), OHG. scrîban, MHG. scrîben, schreip, geschriben to write, draw, paint, describe, appoint, prescribe (G. schreiben, schrieb, geschrieben), ON. and Icel. (weak and with short ĭ) skrifa, -aða, -aðr to paint, write, MSw. skriva, -adhe, -adhu, (strong) skref, skrivin, Sw. skrifva, skref, skrifven, Da. skrive, skrev, skreven (locally also weak); ad. L. scrībere to write.]
1. trans. In OE. (const. dat.) To impose penance upon (a person); hence, to administer absolution to; to hear the confession of.
| a 776 Poenit. Ecgberti ii. xvi. in Thorpe Anc. Laws (1840) II. 188 Ne hire nan preost scrifan ne mot ær heo þone sinscipe forlæte. a 975 Canons of Edgar lxv. ibid. 258 We lærað þæt ælc preosta scrife & dædbote tæce þam þe him andette. 1027–34 Laws Cnut ii. lxviii. §1 A man sceal þam unstrangan men..liþelicor deman & scrifon þonne þam strangan. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 25 Ȝif ic forlete þe preost walde eskien on ester dei hwa me scriue. c 1200 Ormin 15253 Þatt lærede genge, Þatt iss ȝuw sett abufenn.. To spellenn ȝuw off Crisstenndom, To shrifenn ȝuw & huslenn. c 1205 Lay. 18392 ælc mon scriuen oðer swulc hit weoren his broðer. 138. Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 265 Be war that no frer ham shryfe. 1470–85 Malory Arth. xxi. x. 855 He..prayed the bysshop to shryue hym and assoyle hym. 1579 Hake Newes out of Powles iii. (1872) C vij, Wyse man you are no doubt..the Vicar of saint Fooles Go shriue you. 1633 Ford 'Tis Pity ii. E, Giue me leaue To shriue her; lest shee should dye vn-absolu'd. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. vii. xiv, O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man! 1808 Scott Marm. i. xxi, He shall shrieve penitent no more. 1841 James Corse de Leon ii, ‘I will go with you..to shrive the dying’, said the priest. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 436 He found that none of her chaplains knew English or French enough to shrive the king. 1889 Jessopp Coming of Friars v. 219 There was none to shrive them. |
(b) const. of (the sin).
| c 1205 Lay. 32074 He þe scal scriuen of þine weorld lifen þat þine sunen alle scullen þe from falle. a 1300 Cursor M. 23151 Vnnethes sal man find an in lede þat wel will scriue þam o þis sake. 1525 St. Papers Hen. VIII (1836) IV. 419 To schriffe or absolve yaim of thaire synnys. |
b. with extended application.
| 1607 T. D[ekker ?] & Wilkins Jests 18 Three waiting gentlewomen sitting vp late one euening began to shriue one another, and to know what manner of Louers each other had. 1829 Poe Tamerlane Poems (1859) 206 Earth may shrive me of the sin Unearthly pride hath revelled in. 1881 A. O'Shaughnessy Songs of Worker 17 To tell the folk of love, of love to ease The burdens of their labour and their heart, Of love to shrive them of their sin. 1912 Engl. Rev. Dec. 144 Europe has become for the first time a Christian civilisation, shriven at last by the unChristian materialism of Bismarckian blood and iron. |
c. absol. or intr. To perform the office of a confessor; to exercise the ministry of absolution; to hear confessions. rare.
| c 1000–50 De Off. Episc. xi, Ofer ealle þa scire þe he on scrife. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 302 Conscience called a leche þat coude wel shryue. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 449/1 Schryvyn, or here schryftys, audire confessiones. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Aug. 55 A holly eue..When holly fathers wont to shrieue. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 90 Priests were praying, preaching, shriving, holding up the host and the cup. |
2. pass. To ‘take shrift’ (see shrift n. 1); to be confessed; to make one's confession and receive absolution and penance. Const. † of, by, † at, † with, or † to the confessor.
| c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xii. 291 Eow ᵹebyrað þæt ᵹe beon ᵹescrifene on ðissere wucan oððe huru on ðære oðre. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 27 Ȝif he bið wel iscrifen and godfurht. a 1225 Ancr. R. 332 Ase ofte ase ich am ischriuen euer me þuncheð me unschriuen. a 1300 Vox & Wolf 176 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 64 Were thou i-sriue, And sunnen heuedest al forsake. c 1300 Havelok 2489 Hwan..he was wit þe prestes shriue. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (De Sancto Andrea) 898 To na man will I schriffyne be bot anerly to ȝow. c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 387, I haue be shryuen [v.rr. schryue, schreue] this day at my curat. a 1400 Leg. Rood 195 Wat man..For his sinnus sori and schereuen be. c 1425 Cast. Persev. 550 in Macro Plays 93 Þanne schal he deye, & not be schrywe. c 1440 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 159 note, Yff thowe be screffe. 1470–85 Malory Arth. Table of Contents 26 How he was shryuen to an heremyte. c 1530 Ld. Dorset in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. II. 148 It were petie he shuld be hanged tyll he had ben well shereven. 1555 Machyn Diary (Camden) 94 To be shryff and fast iij days in on wyke. c 1570 Durham Depositions (Surtees) 160 Elizabeth Watson..hard no preiching, nor was shervon. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 209 You ought first to bee shriven of one of the Monkes. 1575 Gammer Gurton v. ii, Since Diccon hath confession made & is so cleane shreue. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 194 She shall at Frier Lawrence Cell Be shriu'd and married. 1596 Drayton Legends iv. 861 So he were shriev'd, what need he care a pin? 1848 Lytton Harold i, He died but shriven and absolved. 1882 ‘Ouida’ Maremma i, Straightway would he go to the church and be shriven. |
(b) const. of, rarely from (the sin).
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 59 We agen alle to ben shrifene of ure synnes her we biginnen to fasten. a 1300 Cursor M. 26401 O þaa Sinnes þou was of scriuen a. c 1400 St. Alexius (Laud 622) 338 Euery sonenday houseled he was, And shryuen also of vche trespas. 1481 Caxton Reynard xii. (Arb.) 25 Yf I were shryuen of my synnes, my soule shold be the clerer. 1821 J. Baillie Metr. Leg., Columbus iii, Souls..from trespass shriven. |
3. refl. To make one's confession, go to confession, confess.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 68 Sum uniseli, hwon heo seide þet heo schrof hire, haueð ischriuen hire al to wundre. a 1300 Cursor M. 26398 Þan behouis him screue him halli. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 61 Tell forth my Sone, and schrif the clene. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xiii. 59 Þai say Godd bad neuer þat a man schuld schryfe him till anoþer man. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 13 And so she shroue her and was sethe of holy lyff. 1530 Palsgr. 706/1, I wyll shrive me this lente at the Augustyne fryres, for there is pardon. 1533 Gau Richt Vay To Rdr. 3 Quhow men and vemen sal scriue thayme and quhou thay sal rekkine al thair sinnis to thair schrift fader. 1577 T. Vautrollier Luther on Ep. Gal. 237, I was wont to shriue my selfe with great deuotion. 1641 Prynne Antipathie 40 King Iohn..was poysoned..by a Monke of that House; who went to the Abbot and shrived himselfe. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 1094 Bid call the ghostly man Hither, and let me shrive me clean, and die. |
(b) const. of (the sin).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 266 Schrif þe þerof to morwen. a 1300 Cursor M. 26408 Þof þou scraf þe o þi dede. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶ 106 Priuee synnes of whiche they shryue hem priuely. c 1440 Jacob's Well 178 Þe chanoun..schroof hym to þe bysschop of þat synne. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 16 The veniall synnis that commounly men schryvis thame of here. |
† b. with extended application. Also const. of (Sc.): To renounce. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 440 Here I me shryue and seye That wikkedly ye don vs boþe deye. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems ix. 9 To The, my sweit Saluiour, I me schirryve. Ibid. 137, I schryve me of all cursit cumpany. a 1529 Skelton Bouge of Court 215 To you oonly, me thynke, I durste shryue me For now am I..dysposed To shewe you thynges that may not be disclosed. a 1568 Bannatyne MS. (Hunter. Club) 92 Ryse with thi ransoner fro deid, And the of all thy synnys schryfe. 1625 Gill Sacr. Philos. i. 4 [Zeus] that shreeves himselfe to his wife Iuno for all his slipperie prancks. |
4. intr. To confess one's sins, go to confession.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 26600 And for þe scam man thinc scriuand, It sal for part o penance stand. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 317 We ben sett to schryve of love. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 130 The wolf spake to hym, and shroue [c 1440 Rawl. MS. confeste hyr] to þe preste. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1625 He wald..of his synnes to him schryue Þat he synned in all his lyue. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1069 The preest [in the mass]..fyrst shrivyng to us. 1802 Scott Gray Brother xxx, And who art thou, thou Gray Brother, That I should shrive to thee? 1832 Hawker Cornish Ball. (1908) 19 'Tis not to pray—'tis not to shrive—Therefore, what does she there? 1844 Mrs. Browning Brown Rosary i. x, A nun..Who mocked at the priest when he called her to shrive. |
† b. Rendering L. confiteri of the Vulgate: To ascribe praise and glory to God. Obs.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter vii. 18, I sal schrive to Laverd after his rightwisnes. a 1325 Prose Psalter xxix. 4 Syngeþ to our Lord..and shryueþ to þe mynde of his holinesse. a 1340 Hampole Psalter vi. 5 He is noght..in hell wha sall shrife til þe. a 1400 Prymer (1891) 71, I schal schryue to thee lord in al myn herte. |
† 5. trans. To confess (sins). Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 27105 To preist his sinnes scriue. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 330 [Ps. xxxii. 6], I seide, i shulde shryue my synnes aȝens me to þee, lord. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 7081 And all þe case to him he shraue. |
† b. transf. To reveal, disclose. Obs.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 579 Now haue I plat to yow myn herte schryuen. a 1500 Chaucer's Dreme 2026 C.'s Wks. (1598) 365 b, Al my secre to you I plaine, and shriue. 1818 Keats Isabella viii, I cannot live Another night, and not my passion shrive. |
6. To forgive, pardon (a sin). rare.
The first quot. is doubtful.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 588 Ȝyf þou trowyst synne shal be forȝeue withoute repentaunce & shryue [v.r. repente here & be clene schreuyn]. 1837 Hood Desert-Born 126 ‘Nay then’, cried I—(heav'n shrive the lie!) ‘to tell the secret truth.’ |
† 7. a. To question, examine (a person). Obs.
| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse G 2, Beleeue me, thou shriuest me very neere in this latter demaund. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. xii. 26 She gan him soft to shrieue. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. Earth xxxvii, Gently our Saviour shee began to shrive, Whither he wear the Sonne of God, or no. |
† b. ? To inquire into (a matter). Obs.
| 1651 Cleveland Poems 37 Shrive but their Titles, and their money poize, A laird & twenty pound pronounc'd with noise, When construed, but for a plain Yeoman go, And a good sober two-pence. |
8. a. To relieve (one) of a burden; † to rob.
| 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 169, I am here for shriuing those two fooles of their sinfull packe. 1899 R. Bridges Poems, Fair Brass 21 A..tomb: Such as to look on shrives The heart of half its care. |
b. To remove, lift (a burden) from. rare.
| [1641 Milton Animadv. Wks. 1851 III. 236 To shreeve the purses of unconfessing and unmortify'd sinners.] 1812 Byron Ch. Har. ii. lxxviii, To shrive from man his weight of mortal sin. |
† 9. pass. ? To be bound in an obligation. Obs.
| 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 138 The barons & þe clergie in on wer alle schryuen, Vnto kyng Henrie ageyn William suld be gyuen. |
† 10. trans. To reconcile (a person) to a course of action. Obs.
| 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1325/2 To reconcile, shriue, & win hir maiesties subiects to their diuelish intent. 1594 Nashe Terrors Nt. D 1 Much wonder I how treason and murder dispense with the darknes of the night, how they can shriue themselues to it. |
† 11. Const. gen. in OE., of in ME.: To reck of, care for. Obs.
| c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xliv. 322 Ne he ne scrife ðæs hlisan buton hu he ryhtost wyrce. Ibid. lv, Hi ne scrifon hwæðer hit wære ðe dæᵹ ðe niht ðonne ðonne hi synᵹodon. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. x. 29 Deað þæs ne scrifeð. 13.. K. Alis. 3884 (Bodl. MS.), Alisaunder nouȝth of hym shroof [Linc. Inn MS. gaf] Ac perciens to fore hym droof. |
▪ III. shrive
obs. form of sheriff.