English
confession
Confession comes from Latin cōnfessiō ‘confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to shine, glow light’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fatēōr‘to confess’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfateor‘to confess, admit’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfiteor‘to confess, to acknowledge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfessiōas cōnfessiō‘confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of one's faith’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400confession
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500confessioun
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595confession
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to shine, glow light’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fatēōr‘to confess’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfateor‘to confess, admit’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfiteor‘to confess, to acknowledge’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcōnfessiōas cōnfessiō‘confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of one's faith’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400confession
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500confessioun
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595confession
Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “Hauing diſpleaſ'd my Father, to Lawrence Cell, / To…”
The story
Sense 6 is a calque of 告白 (kokuhaku).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’
phone, focus, famous, fuel, ben, phase, favor, favourite, ban, fantasy, fate, fancy, fame, photographer, fatal, bee, fairy, fabulous, emphasis, phenomenon, abandon, infant, phantom, beck, symphony, eff, fab, beacon, fay, bane, boon, prophetic, epiphany, fable, foyer, banish, buoy, bene, banal, nefarious, 126 more
through Latin fateor ‘to confess, admit’
Today it means
noun The open admittance of having done something (especially something bad).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- / confession