Dictionary

confessor en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɒnfɛsə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /kənˈfɛsɚ/ (General-American)
• /kənˈfɛsə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈkɒnfɛsɔː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English confessor, confessour, from Anglo-Norman confessour, and its source, Latin cōnfessor, from cōnfiteor (“confess, admit, acknowledge”). By surface analysis, confess + -or.

Meanings

1. One who confesses faith in Christianity in the face of persecution, but who is not martyred.
   • Long before Edward I, the English had a King Edward who they considered a martyr and a King Edward who they considered a confessor.
   • 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, published 2010, page 174:
2. One who confesses to having done something wrong.
   • Near-synonym: confessant
3. (qualifier:Eastern Orthodoxy) A priest who hears confession and then gives absolution.
4. (broadly, figuratively) Someone who acts as listener and helper.
   • They do not feel connected to any gay/lesbian communities. Nor do they feel able to establish relationships with anyone who can support them. Thus an inexperienced but sincere young heterosexual actor can find himself playing not only role model but also confessor and phantom friend to people in great need. 1994 October, Larry Gross, “Coming Out On the Soaps”, in Gay Community News, page 14:

Forms

Coordinates

confessant · martyr

Deriveds

confessoress · confessorial · Edward the Confessor · father confessor · confessorship

Synonyms

confessant · father confessor

Translations (52)

sv biktfader (priest who hears confession) · da skriftefader (priest who hears confession) · el ομολογητής (one who confesses) · ga oide faoistine (priest who hears confession) · bg изпове́дник (priest who hears confession) · mk духовник (priest who hears confession) · cmn 自白者 (one who confesses) · be спаве́днік (priest who hears confession) · nl biechtvader (priest who hears confession) · cy periglor (priest who hears confession) · de Bekenner (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · hu hitvalló (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · ang sċrift (priest who hears confession) · el πνευματικός (priest who hears confession) · cs zpovědník (priest who hears confession) · uk спові́дник (priest who hears confession) · ja 告白者 (one who confesses) · el ομολογητής (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · mk исповедник (priest who hears confession) · ga dearbhóir (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · sk spovedník (priest who hears confession) · pl spowiednik (priest who hears confession) · fr confesseur (priest who hears confession) · cmn 宣信者 (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · ja 自白する人 (one who confesses) · be спавяда́льнік (priest who hears confession) · es confesante (priest who hears confession) · ru испове́дник (priest who hears confession) · pt confessor (priest who hears confession) · sv bekännare (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · it confessore (priest who hears confession) · ga admhálaí (one who confesses) · pl wyznawca (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · is játari (priest who hears confession) · ja 表信者 (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · da bekender (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · ru испове́дник (one who confesses) · fa خستو (one who confesses) · de Beichtiger (priest who hears confession) · ga coinfeasóir (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · cmn 懺悔者 /忏悔者 (one who confesses) · fi rippi-isä (priest who hears confession) · sv bekännare (one who confesses) · fi tunnustaja (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · de Beichtvater (priest who hears confession) · ga athair faoistine (priest who hears confession) · nl belijder (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · pt confessor (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · cs vyznavač (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · ru испове́дник (one who confesses faith in Christianity) · ang andetta (one who confesses) · hu gyóntatópap (priest who hears confession)