shriven
[shriv-uh n]
- a past participle of shrive.
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shrive
[shrahyv]
- to impose penance on (a sinner).
- to grant absolution to (a penitent).
- to hear the confession of (a person).
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- to hear confessions.
- 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
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 CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
There are two confessionals, in one or the other of which we must be shriven.
Essays, First SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
Spectres of uncharitableness were disturbing her and she sought to be shriven.
StubbleGeorge Looms
Truth is stern, Huber; fight then lustily, and get you shriven to-morrow.
The SerfGuy Thorne
Confess to its perfection, and be shriven Of any thought less fair.
The Mortal Gods and Other PlaysOlive Tilford Dargan
shrive
- to hear the confession of (a penitent)
- (tr) to impose a penance upon (a penitent) and grant him sacramental absolution
- (intr) to confess one's sins to a priest in order to obtain sacramental forgiveness
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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
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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