shrive

Meaning

1. To hear or receive a confession (of sins etc.).
2. To free from guilt, to absolve.
3. To prescribe penance or absolution.
4. To confess, and receive absolution.

Concepts

shrive

confess

absolve

ordain

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈʃɹaɪv/

Etymology

From Middle English shryven, shriven, schrifen, from Old English sċrīfan (“1. to decree, pass judgement, prescribe, 2. (of a priest) to prescribe penance or absolution”), from Proto-West Germanic *skrīban, from late Proto-Germanic *skrībaną, a borrowing from Latin scrībō (“write”). Compare West Frisian skriuwe (“to write”), Low German schrieven (“to write”), Dutch schrijven (“to write”), German schreiben (“to write”), Danish skrive (“to write”), Swedish skriva (“to write”), Icelandic skrifa (“to write”). More at scribe and scribble.