shrive

American  

[shrahyv] / ʃraɪv /

verb (used with object)

shrove, shrived, shriven, shrived, shriving

1. to impose penance on (a sinner).

2. to grant absolution to (a penitent).

3. to hear the confession of (a person).

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verb (used without object)

Archaic.

shrove, shrived, shriven, shrived, shriving

1. to hear confessions.

2. to go to or make confession; confess one's sins, as to a priest.

shrive British  

/ ʃraɪv /

verb

1. to hear the confession of (a penitent)

2. (tr) to impose a penance upon (a penitent) and grant him sacramental absolution

3. (intr) to confess one's sins to a priest in order to obtain sacramental forgiveness

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Other Word Forms

• shriver
  noun
• unshrived
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of shrive

First recorded before 900; Middle English shriven, schrifen, Old English scrīfan “to prescribe, impose a penance on (a penitent),” cognate with German schreiben “to write,” ultimately from Latin scrībere “to write, draw”; see scribe ¹

Explanation

To shrive is to hear someone's confession and forgive them. It's not easy, but once your brother has admitted to reading your diary and apologized, it's best to shrive him and move on. Though this verb is mainly considered to be archaic, you may occasionally come across it in the context of a Catholic priest absolving someone of sin. You can also shrive yourself by laying your sins or misdeeds on the table, in hopes of absolution and forgiveness: "After my friend was blamed for stealing those cookies, I decided to shrive myself and promise never to do it again."

Example Sentences

No play to make first-night audiences shrive themselves for past sins is American Landscape.

From Time Magazine Archive

At the same time he entreated that a Catholic priest should be sent for to shrive him—that he had been brought up in the Catholic faith, but that he had neglected religion when in health.

From The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry With Legends of the Surrounding Country by Barry, Joseph

"A priest, a priest," sayes Aldingar,185 "While I am a man alive; "A priest, a priest," sayes Aldingar, "Me for to houzle and shrive.

From English and Scottish Ballads (volume 3 of 8) by Various

The lawyers came and took her depositions; the priests, also, to shrive her soul.

From The Browning Cyclop?dia A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning by Berdoe, Edward

For he caught a glimpse of an ag�d crone Who knelt beside a coffin alone; She had sold her cloak to shrive the dead And buy a crucifix!

From Songs and Satires by Masters, Edgar Lee