SHRIVING

Etymology

Verb

shriving

present participle of shrive

Noun

shriving (plural shrivings)

The hearing of a confession of sins.

Source: Wiktionary


Shriv"ing, n.

Definition: Shrift; confession. Spenser.

SHRIVE

Shrive, v. t. [imp. Shrived or Shrove (; p. p. Shriven or Shrived; p. pr. & vb. n. Shriving.] Etym: [OE. shriven, schriven, AS. scrivan to shrive, to impose penance or punishment; akin to OFries. skriva to impose punishment; cf. OS. biskriban to be troubled. Cf. Shrift, Shrovetide.]

1. To hear or receive the confession of; to administer confession and absolution to; -- said of a priest as the agent. That they should shrive their parishioners. Piers Plowman. Doubtless he shrives this woman, . . . Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech. Shak. Till my guilty soul be shriven. Longfellow.

2. To confess, and receive absolution; -- used reflexively. Get you to the church and shrive yourself. Beau & Fl.

Shrive, v. i.

Definition: To receive confessions, as a priest; to administer confession and absolution. Spenser.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

9 January 2025

PRESENTATION

(noun) (obstetrics) position of the fetus in the uterus relative to the birth canal; “Cesarean sections are sometimes the result of abnormal presentations”


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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