Shrive
/ʃraɪv/noun
To hear a confession and grant absolution, or more broadly to confess and receive forgiveness.
Did you know?Shrive comes from the same Latin root as **script**, **scribe**, and **describe** — confession was once literally tied to writing, marking, and official judgment.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*skreybʰ-
“to scratch, cut, write”
Latin
Latin
scrībere
“to write, inscribe”
Late Latin
Latin
scrīptūra
“writing; a written document”
Old English
English
scrīfan
“to impose a penance; to decree; to write”
Middle English
English
shriven
“to confess and receive absolution”
Modern English
English
shrive
“to hear a confession and grant absolution”