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Glite Dictionary
🗣️ Self-revealing 📖 A guidebook ⛪ A confession booth
confessionary

confessionary

9.5
A small place in a church where people tell their sins to a priest
  • noun
  • /kənˈfɛʃənˌɛri/
translation icon : confesionario
  • Many churches have a confessionary where people can privately confess their sins.

Examples

  • Many churches have a confessionary for private confessions.

  • She entered the confessionary quietly, seeking forgiveness for her mistakes.

  • The priest waited in the confessionary for parishioners to arrive before the evening service.

  • Visitors admired the ornate woodwork of the old confessionary in the cathedral.

  • The priest sat in the confessionary waiting for parishioners.

  • The priest waited in the confessionary for parishioners to arrive before the evening service.

  • Visitors admired the ornate woodwork of the old confessionary in the cathedral.

Synonyms

confessional
vsconfessionary
42 7.6

A small private booth in a church where people tell a priest their sins

is any church place or structure used for admitting sins, not only small booths

Surface Forms

confessionary singular
confessionaries plural

Morphology

confessionary = confession (semi-transparent) = confession + ary

Formed from 'confession' + '-ary' to denote a place or thing associated with confessing; the relation is evident but the locative/structural meaning is a specialized extension.

Etymology

Confessionary as a place also comes from confess (with con- 'with' and a root for 'to speak'), so it means a spot to 'speak with' a priest. That's why a confessionary can mean the booth or room in a church where people go to confess.