v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Confessed p. pr. & vb. n. Confessing. ] [ F. confesser, fr. L. confessus, p. p. of confiteri to confess; con- + fateri to confess; akin to fari to speak. See 2d Ban, Fame. ] 1. To make acknowledgment or avowal in a matter pertaining to one's self; to acknowledge, own, or admit, as a crime, a fault, a debt. [ 1913 Webster ]

And there confess
Humbly our faults, and pardon beg. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

I must confess I was most pleased with a beautiful prospect that none of them have mentioned. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To acknowledge faith in; to profess belief in. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess, also, before my Father which is in heaven. Matt. x. 32. [ 1913 Webster ]

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. Acts xxiii. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To admit as true; to assent to; to acknowledge, as after a previous doubt, denial, or concealment. [ 1913 Webster ]

I never gave it him. Send for him hither,
And let him confess a truth. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

As I confess it needs must be. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

As an actor confessed without rival to shine. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Eccl.) (a) To make known or acknowledge, as one's sins to a priest, in order to receive absolution; -- sometimes followed by the reflexive pronoun. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our beautiful votary took an opportunity of confessing herself to this celebrated father. Addison.

(b) To hear or receive such confession; -- said of a priest. [ 1913 Webster ]

He . . . heard mass, and the prince, his son, with him, and the most part of his company were confessed. Ld. Berners. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To disclose or reveal, as an effect discloses its cause; to prove; to attest. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tall thriving trees confessed the fruitful mold. Pope.

Syn. -- Admit; grant; concede; avow; own; assent; recognize; prove; exhibit; attest. -- To Confess, Acknowledge, Avow. Acknowledge is opposed to conceal. We acknowledge what we feel must or ought to be made known. (See Acknowledge.) Avow is opposed to withhold. We avow when we make an open and public declaration, as against obloquy or opposition; as, to avow one's principles; to avow one's participation in some act. Confess is opposed to deny. We confess (in the ordinary sense of the word) what we feel to have been wrong; as, to confess one's errors or faults. We sometimes use confess and acknowledge when there is no admission of our being in the wrong; as, this, I confess, is my opinion; I acknowledge I have always thought so; but in these cases we mean simply to imply that others may perhaps think us in the wrong, and hence we use the words by way of deference to their opinions. It was in this way that the early Christians were led to use the Latin confiteor and confessio fidei to denote the public declaration of their faith in Christianity; and hence the corresponding use in English of the verb confess and the noun confession. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To make confession; to disclose sins or faults, or the state of the conscience. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every tongue shall confess to God. Rom. xiv. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To acknowledge; to admit; to concede. [ 1913 Webster ]

But since
(And I confess with right) you think me bound. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. confessant. ] One who confesses to a priest. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. confessarius. ] One who makes a confession. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By confession; without denial. [ Written also confessly. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who makes a confession. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. confession, L. confessio. ] 1. Acknowledgment; avowal, especially in a matter pertaining to one's self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime. [ 1913 Webster ]

With a crafty madness keeps aloof,
When we would bring him on to some confession
Of his true state. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

With the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Rom. x. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Eccl.) The act of disclosing sins or faults to a priest in order to obtain sacramental absolution. [ 1913 Webster ]

Auricular confession . . . or the private and special confession of sins to a priest for the purpose of obtaining his absolution. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A formulary in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) An admission by a party to whom an act is imputed, in relation to such act. A judicial confession settles the issue to which it applies; an extrajudical confession may be explained or rebutted. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Confession and avoidance (Law), a mode of pleading in which the party confesses the facts as stated by his adversary, but alleges some new matter by way of avoiding the legal effect claimed for them. Mozley & W. [ 1913 Webster ]

Confession of faith, a formulary containing the articles of faith; a creed. --
General confession, the confession of sins made by a number of persons in common, as in public prayer. --
Westminster Confession. See Westminster Assembly, under Assembly. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to a confession of faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

Confessional equality, equality before the law of persons confessing different creeds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. confessional. ] The recess, seat, or inclosed place, where a priest sits to hear confessions; often a small structure furnished with a seat for the priest and with a window or aperture so that the penitent who is outside may whisper into the priest's ear without being seen by him or heard by others. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Eccl.) An exaggerated estimate of the importance of giving full assent to any particular formula of the Christian faith. Shaff. [ 1913 Webster ]