confession

Plural: confessions

Noun

• an admission of misdeeds or faults
• a written document acknowledging an offense and signed by the guilty party
• (Roman Catholic Church) the act of a penitent disclosing his sinfulness before a priest in the sacrament of penance in the hope of absolution
• a public declaration of your faith
• the document that spells out the belief system of a given church (especially the Reformation churches of the 16th century)
• The open admittance of having done something (especially something bad).
• A formal document providing such an admission.
• The disclosure of one's sins to a priest for absolution. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is now also termed the sacrament of reconciliation.
• Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.
• A formula 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.
• The act of professing one's love.

Examples

• He forced me to sign a confession!
• I went to confession and now I feel much better about what I had done.
• Without the real murderer's confession, an innocent person could be jailed.

Related Words

confess