Confess

v. Forms: 4 confessen, 4–7 -fesse, (7 -fese), 5– confess; pa. t. 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.  Shaks., 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.  Shaks., Ham., III. i. 5. He does confesse he feeles himselfe distracted.

a. 1699.  Lady 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 object 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.  Shaks., 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, trans. 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, trans. 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^e 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.  Mrs. 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, trans. 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 March. 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 sb. 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.  specifically.

  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^t heade of him [the goate], and confesse ouer him all the myszdedes of y^e 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 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.  Mrs. 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.  Shaks., Oth., V. ii. 53. Confesse thee freely of thy sinne.

1635.  Pagitt, Christianogr., I. (1646), 75. They confesse themselves of all their sinnes to the Priest.

  d.  intr. in same sense as the refl.

1592.  Shaks., 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.  Shaks., 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.  passive. 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 will 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.  Shaks., 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.’