Shriven

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. To have undergone a process of repentance leading to forgiveness
2. To have received absolution after confessing one’s sins or wrongdoings
3. Having gone through confession and obtained forgiveness for wrongdoings

Etymology: Before it described a sinner's cleansing, "shrive" meant something closer to a judge's ruling: Old English "sċrīfan" could mean to decree, pass judgement, or prescribe a penalty, and only later narrowed to the priest's act of hearing confession and assigning penance. The verb's roots go back to Latin "scrībere", "to write", which reached the Germanic languages as a borrowing and gave the word a sense of setting something down in authority, as a written verdict does. That shift from legal decree to religious absolution is the heart of the story. A priest who "shrove" a penitent did more than listen; he pronounced the sins forgiven and fixed the penance to be performed. "Shriven" is the form that describes the person who has been through this process and come out cleared, so the adjective carries the record of that formal pronouncement.

Synonyms: forgiven, absolved