| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| confess |
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| SYLLABICATION: | con·fess |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  k n-f s |
| VERB: | Inflected forms: con·fessed, con·fess·ing, con·fess·es
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To disclose (something damaging or inconvenient to oneself); admit. See synonyms at acknowledge. 2. To acknowledge belief or faith in; profess. 3a. To make known (one's sins) to God or to a priest. b. To hear the confession of (a penitent). | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To admit or acknowledge something damaging or inconvenient to oneself: The suspect confessed to the crime. 2a. To disclose one's sins to a priest. b. To listen to a confession. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English confessen, from Old French confesser, from Vulgar Latin *c nfess re, from Latin cnfit r , cnfess- : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + fatr, to admit; see bh-2 in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | con·fessa·ble —ADJECTIVE
con·fessed·ly (- d-l) —ADVERB
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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