shrive
/ˈʃɹaɪv/verb
shrive is spelled S-H-R-I-V-E: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 60 million words in written English, the 243,301st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, shrive means “To hear or receive a confession (of sins etc.)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in shrive?
| Letters | 6: S-H-R-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 60 million words; the 243,301st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is shrive?
Shrive appears about once in every 60 million words in written English, the 243,301st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce shrive?
- /ˈʃɹaɪv/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-shrive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with shrive?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as shrive.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: shiver.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of shrive
- shrives present, singular, he/she/it
- shriving participle, present
- shrove past
- shrived past, participle
- shriven participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shrive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To hear or receive a confession (of sins etc.).
- 2
To free from guilt, to absolve.
- 3
To prescribe penance or absolution.
- 4
To confess, and receive absolution.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shrive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | die Beichte abnehmen , die Vergebung der Sünden gewähren, die Absolution erteilen, eine Buße auferlegen |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does shrive come from?
From Middle English schryven, 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).