English → Latin
“confession” in Latin
cōnfessiōa confession, acknowledgment; creed or avowal of one's faith; confession (disclosure of one's sins to a priest in order professiōdeclaration, avowal, profession (act of professing); occupation, profession (professional employment)exprimōto squeeze out; to press (out); to express; to imitate or copyextorqueōto obtain or take away by force, extort; to tear away, twist away, wrench outcōgōto collect, assemble, gather together; to restrict or confine in space; to force, compel, urge, encourage, finagle
The English word confession itself goes back to Latin fateor, through cōnfessiō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
confession
confessio: professio [Vid: To CONFESS]. To bring anybody to a confession of anything, aliquem adducere ad confessionem alicujus rei (by persuasion): alicui exprimere confessionem alicujus rei, or exprimere, ut aliquis confiteatur aliquid (by coercive or compulsory means): to extort a confession from anybody, exprimere or extorquere, ut fateatur, etc.; cogere, ut confiteatur or ut concedat (to compel anybody to confess, whether a matter be such or such; Vid: Cic., Tusc., 1, 7, 14, and 1, 8, 15 and 16).
Confession, in ecclesiastical sense: *confessio peccatorum: “mysterium sacrum confessionis peccatorum (as a holy act): *ministerium peccatorum cum Deo conciliandorum (as duty of the priest): to go to confession, *obire confessionis mysterium sacrum: to hear confessions, *confitentibus operam dare: the form of confession, confessionis (peccatorum) formula.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for confession?
- The usual Latin words for “confession” are cōnfessiō, professiō, exprimō; also extorqueō, cōgō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.