Confession

How to spell confession

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce confession

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does confession mean?

1. nounA statement admitting that one has done something wrong, or a frank acknowledgement of a private fact or feeling.

Confession in a sentence

• The suspect signed a full confession at the police station.

• Her confession that she had forgotten the meeting surprised everyone.

Where does confession come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin confessio, a noun of action built on the verb confiteri, meaning 'to acknowledge' or 'to admit fully'. That verb combines the intensive prefix con-, here adding force, with fateri, which literally meant 'to own up' or 'to declare'. The same fateri root surfaces in 'profess' and 'confess', all sharing the idea of speaking something openly. English adopted confession through Old French in the 1300s, when it carried a strongly religious sense of admitting one's sins to a priest. Over time the meaning broadened to cover any frank admission of wrongdoing or private feeling. The double-s in the middle, which trips many writers, comes straight from the Latin fessio and is worth fixing in memory.

How the word is built

• con- (together/fully)
• fess (from fateri: to admit, confess)
• -ion (noun of action)