Dictionary

shrive en · VERB

Pronunciation

• shrīv
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈʃɹaɪv/

Etymology

From Middle English schryven, from Old English sċrīfan (“1. to decree, pass judgement, prescribe, 3. (of a priest) to prescribe penance or absolution”), from Proto-West Germanic *skrīban, from late Proto-Germanic *skrībaną, a borrowing from Latin scrībō (“write”). Compare West Frisian skriuwe (“to write”), Low German schrieven (“to write”), Dutch schrijven (“to write”), German schreiben (“to write”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk skrive (“to write”), Swedish skriva (“to write”), Icelandic skrifa (“to write”). More at scribe and scribble.

Meanings

1. (intransitive, transitive) To hear or receive a confession (of sins etc.).
   • Doubtless he shrives this woman, […] / Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech. c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
   • If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me. c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
2. (transitive) To free from guilt, to absolve.
   • I will not madly deem that power Of Earth may shrive me of the sin Unearthly pride hath revell’d in— […] 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
   • My sins as scarlet are; let me go hence, / And in some cloister's school of penitence, / Across those stones, that pave the way to heaven, / Walk barefoot, till my guilty soul is shriven! 1863 November 23, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Sicilian’s Tale. King Robert of Sicily.”, in Tales of a Wayside Inn, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 67:
3. (transitive) To prescribe penance or absolution.
4. (intransitive, reflexive) To confess, and receive absolution.
   • c. 1798-1845, unknown author, The Croppy Boy 'Twas a good thought, boy, to come here and shrive.

Forms

Deriveds

unshrived · Shrove Sunday · shriver · Shrove Tuesday · shrove · Shrove Monday · shriving-time · Shrovetide

Relateds

shrift · Shrove Tuesday · scribe

Translations (8)

pl wyspowiadać (hear or receive a confession) · bg изповядвам (hear or receive a confession) · de die Absolution erteilen (prescribe penance or absolution) · de eine Buße auferlegen (prescribe penance or absolution) · cs vyzpovídat (hear or receive a confession) · de die Beichte abnehmen (hear or receive a confession) · pl spowiadać (hear or receive a confession) · de die Vergebung der Sünden gewähren (prescribe penance or absolution)