shrive

Definition of shrive

5 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

verb

(intransitive, transitive)To hear or receive a confession (of sins etc.).

“If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.”
“Doubtless he shrives this woman, […] / Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech.”

See all 5 definitions

verb

(intransitive, transitive)To hear or receive a confession (of sins etc.).

“If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.”
“Doubtless he shrives this woman, […] / Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech.”
(transitive)To 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— […]”
“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!”
(transitive)To prescribe penance or absolution.
(intransitive, reflexive)To confess, and receive absolution.

“c. 1798-1845, unknown author, The Croppy Boy 'Twas a good thought, boy, to come here and shrive.”

name

A surname.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English shryven, shriven, schrifen, 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…

See full etymology

From Middle English shryven, shriven, schrifen, 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.

Anagrams of shrive

3 plays · some not in Scrabble

Best play shiver 12 points

Words you can make from shrive

54 playable · top: SHIVER (12 pts)

Best play shiver 12 points

5-letter words

10 words

4-letter words

17 words

3-letter words

17 words

2-letter words

9 words

Hooks

5 extensions · 5 back

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