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shriven

[shriv-uh n]
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verb
  1. a past participle of shrive.
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Related formsun·shriv·en, adjective

shrive

[shrahyv]
verb (used with object), shrove or shrived, shriv·en or shrived, shriv·ing.
  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), shrove or shrived, shriv·en or shrived, shriv·ing. Archaic.
  1. to hear confessions.
  2. to go to or make confession; confess one's sins, as to a priest.
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Origin of shrive

before 900; Middle English shriven, schrifen, Old English scrīfan to prescribe, cognate with German schreiben to write ≪ Latin scrībere; see scribe1
Related formsun·shrived, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for shriven

Historical Examples

  • Away to your chamber, sweeting, and keep a blithe face, for she who confesses is shriven.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • There are two confessionals, in one or the other of which we must be shriven.

    Essays, First Series

    Ralph Waldo Emerson

  • Spectres of uncharitableness were disturbing her and she sought to be shriven.

    Stubble

    George Looms

  • Truth is stern, Huber; fight then lustily, and get you shriven to-morrow.

    The Serf

    Guy Thorne

  • Confess to its perfection, and be shriven Of any thought less fair.

British Dictionary definitions for shriven

shrive

verb shrives, shriving, shrove, shrived, shriven (ˈʃrɪvən) or shrived mainly RC Church
  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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Derived Formsshriver, noun

Word Origin

Old English scrīfan, from Latin scrībere to write
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for shriven

past participle of shrive (v.).

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shrive

v.

Old English scrifan "assign, prescribe, ordain, decree; impose penance, hear confession; have regard for, care for," apparently originally "to write" (strong, past tense scraf, past participle scrifen), from West Germanic *skriban (cf. Old Saxon scriban, Old Frisian skriva "write; impose penance;" Old Dutch scrivan, Dutch schrijven, German schreiben "to write, draw, paint;" Danish skrifte "confess"), an early borrowing from Latin scribere "to write" (see script (n.)), which in Old English and Scandinavian developed further to "confess, hear confession."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper