Meanings
shrive1
present singular third person shrives · participle present shriving · past shrove · past shrived · participle past shriven · participle past shrived · alternative obsolete shrieve
- intransitivetransitivelifestyleTo 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]1 more example
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] - transitiveTo 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 Poems1 more example
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 - transitivelifestyleTo prescribe penance or absolution.
- intransitivereflexivelifestyleTo confess, and receive absolution.
c. 1798-1845, unknown author, The Croppy Boy 'Twas a good thought, boy, to come here and shrive.
Shrive2
- A surname.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinscrībō“write”
- Proto-Germanic*skrībaną
- Proto-West Germanic*skrīban
- Old Englishsċrīfan“1. to decree, pass judgement, prescribe, 3. (of a priest) to prescribe penance or absolution”
- Middle Englishschryven
- Englishshrive
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.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian изповядвам
- изповядвам (izpovjadvam)hear or receive a confession
Czech vyzpovídat
- vyzpovídathear or receive a confession
German die Beichte abnehmen, die Vergebung der Sünden gewähren
- die Beichte abnehmenhear or receive a confession
- die Vergebung der Sünden gewährenprescribe penance or absolution
- die Absolution erteilenprescribe penance or absolution
- eine Buße auferlegenprescribe penance or absolution
Polish spowiadać, wyspowiadać
- spowiadaćhear or receive a confession
- wyspowiadaćhear or receive a confession
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shrive
Anagrams
Cite this entry
shrive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrive
“shrive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrive. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shrive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shrive.
Source: shrive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.