The story
- Latin · derived fromconfessus
- Old French · derived fromconfesser
- Anglo-Norman · derived fromconfesser
- Middle English · inherited fromconfessen
- English todayconfess
From Middle English confessen, from Anglo-Norman confesser, from Old French confesser, from Latin confessus (Old French confés), past participle of cōnfiteor (“to confess, admit”) from con- + fateor (“to admit”). Displaced Middle English andetten (“to confess, admit”) (from Old English andettan). Doublet of confiteor. Sense 6 is a semantic loan from Japanese 告(こく)白(はく) (kokuhaku).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.