Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One who confesses.
- noun One who confesses faith in Christianity in the face of persecution but does not suffer martyrdom.
- noun A priest who hears confession and gives absolution.
- noun A priest who is one's spiritual mentor.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One who confesses; one who acknowledges a crime, a fault, or an obligation.
- noun One who makes a profession of his faith in the Christian religion; specifically, one who avows his religion in the face of danger, and adheres to it in spite of persecution and torture.
- noun One who hears confessions; specifically, a priest who hears confession and grants absolution; distinctively, as a title of office, a priest employed as a private spiritual director, as of a king or other great personage.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One who confesses; one who acknowledges a fault, or the truth of a charge, at the risk of suffering; specifically, one who confesses himself a follower of Christ and endures persecution for his faith.
- noun A priest who hears the confessions of others and is authorized to grant them absolution.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun One who confesses
faith inChristianity in the face ofpersecution , but who is notmartyred . - noun One who
confesses to having done something wrong. - noun Roman Catholicism A
priest who hearsconfession and then givesabsolution
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun someone who confesses (discloses information damaging to themselves)
- noun a priest who hears confession and gives absolution
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Rightly is he called the confessor of God, who continually preached the name of Christ, and who by his words, his examples, and his miracles excited peoples, tribes, and tongues unto the confession of his name, of human sin, and of divine promise!
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Moreover, he performed the offices of his holy ministry, and was commonly called the confessor of foreigners.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 10: Mass Music-Newman 1840-1916 1913
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The word confessor is derived from the Latin confiteri, to confess, to profess, but it is not found in writers of the classical period, having been first used by the Christians.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913
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British writer Andrew Morton, best known as the confessor of the late Princess Diana, is taking on Angelina Jolie in his next unauthorized biography.
Book Buzz: 'Angelina,' 'Carrie Diaries' and 'True Prep' 2010
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“A cast of their office, and a cast of mine,” answered the bailie; “a cord and a confessor, that is all thou wilt have from us.”
The Monastery 2008
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It becomes utterly impossible, in the church of Rome, that the husband should be _one_ with his wife, and that the wife should be _one_ with her husband: a "monstrous being" has been put between them both, called the confessor!
The Priest, The Woman And The Confessional Father Chiniquy
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The confessor is the master, the ruler, the king of the soul; the husband, as the grave-yard keeper, must be satisfied with the carcase!
The Priest, The Woman And The Confessional Father Chiniquy
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The confessor is the worm which is biting, polluting, and destroying the very roots of civil and religious society, by contaminating, debasing, and enslaving woman.
The Priest, The Woman And The Confessional Father Chiniquy
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-- 'Sire, my confessor was my friend; it would be very painful to me.'
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As his malady increased, he would call a confessor, and, pouring into the father's credulous ear a tale of woes, sorrows, superstition and humbug, he would make the convent a donation of _all his estates in South America_, and pray for a remission of his sins!
Captain Canot or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver Theodore Canot
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