shrive

verb /ˈʃɹaɪv/

1. To hear or receive a confession (of sins etc.).

   intransitive, transitive

   If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me.

2. To free from guilt, to absolve.

   transitive

   Of Earth may shrive me of the sin Unearthly pride hath revell’d in— […]

   I will not madly deem that power

3. To prescribe penance or absolution.

   transitive

4. To confess, and receive absolution.

   intransitive

   'Twas a good thought, boy, to come here and shrive.

   c. 1798-1845, unknown author, The Croppy Boy

Where it comes 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.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry shrive (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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