# confession

> English word · Noun · IPA /kənˈfɛʃən/ · frequency rank #8,527

## Definitions
1. The open admittance of having done something (especially something bad).
2. A formal document providing such an admission.
3. The disclosure of one's sins to a priest for absolution. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is now also termed the sacrament of reconciliation.
4. Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.
5. A formula in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith.
6. The act of professing one's love.

## Etymology
From Middle English confessioun, from Old French confession, from Latin cōnfessiō, cōnfessiōnem (“confession, acknowledgment, creed or avowal of one's faith”). Displaced native Old English andetnes. Doublet of confessio.
Morphologically confess + -ion.
Sense 6 is a calque of 告白 (kokuhaku).

## Easily confused with
- **confusion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confession-vs-confusion)
- **confessor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confession-vs-confessor)
- **conversion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confession-vs-conversion)
- **congestion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confession-vs-congestion)
- **confessional** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confession-vs-confessional)
- **concession** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/concession-vs-confession)
- **concussion** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/concussion-vs-confession)
- **confessing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/confessing-vs-confession)

## Common misspellings (14)
`cconfession`, `cnofession`, `cofnession`, `conefssion`, `confesion`, `confesison`, `confessino`, `confessionn`, `confessoin`, `confestion`, `conffession`, `confsesion`, `connfession`, `ocnfession`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/confession