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Webster 1913 Edition
Confessor
Con-fess′or
(?; 277)
, Noun.
[OF.
confessor
, F. confesseur
, fr. L. & LL. confessor
.] 1.
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.
He who dies for religion is a martyr; he who suffers for it is a
confessor
. Latham.
Our religion which hath been sealed with the blood of so many martyrs and
confessors
. Bacon.
2.
A priest who hears the confessions of others and is authorized to grant them absolution.
Webster 1828 Edition
Confessor
CONFESS'OR
,Noun.
1.
One who confesses; one who acknowledges his sins.2.
One who makes a profession of his faith in the Christian religion. The word is appropriately used to denote one who avows his religion in the face of danger, and adheres to it, in defiance of persecution and torture. It was formerly used as synonymous with martyr; afterwards it was applied to those who, having been persecuted and tormented, were permitted to die in peace. It was used also for such Christians as lived a good life, and died with the reputation of sanctity.3.
A priest; one who hears the confessions of others, and has power to grant them absolution.Definition 2024
confessor
confessor
English
Alternative forms
- confessour (obsolete)
Noun
confessor (plural confessors)
- One who confesses faith in Christianity in the face of persecution, but who is not martyred.
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 174:
- Confessors provided the troubled Church with an alternative sort of authority based on their sufferings, particularly when arguments began about how and how much to forgive those Christians who had given way to imperial orders – the so-called ‘lapsed’.
- 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 174:
- One who confesses to having done something wrong.
- (Roman Catholicism) A priest who hears confession and then gives absolution
Translations
one who confesses
|
one who confesses faith in Christianity
|
|
priest who hears confession
|
|
References
Beccari, C. (1908) The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company, Confessor
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /konˈfes.sor/, [kõːˈfɛs.sɔr]
Noun
cōnfessor m (genitive cōnfessōris); third declension
Inflection
Third declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | cōnfessor | cōnfessōrēs |
| genitive | cōnfessōris | cōnfessōrum |
| dative | cōnfessōrī | cōnfessōribus |
| accusative | cōnfessōrem | cōnfessōrēs |
| ablative | cōnfessōre | cōnfessōribus |
| vocative | cōnfessor | cōnfessōrēs |
References
- confessor in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- CONFESSOR in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
Portuguese
Noun
confessor m (plural confessores, feminine confessora, feminine plural confessoras)
- (religion) confessor (one who confesses faith in a religion, especially Christianity)
- (Roman Catholicism) confessor (priest who hears confession)