shriftn.

Brit.

/ʃrɪft/, U.S.

/ʃrɪft/

Forms: Old English–Middle English scrift, Middle English scrifte, Middle English–1500s schrift, (Middle English scrifft, Middle English srift, shrifft, scryf ?, Middle English shreft, shruft, ssrifþe, ssryft(e, ssrifte, Middle English scrif ?, Middle English scheryft), Middle English schrifte, shryfte, schryft(e, Middle English–1500s shryft, shrifte, Middle English– shrift.

Etymology: Old English scrift (masculine), corresponding to Old Frisian skrift (masculine and feminine), Middle Dutch schrift (schricht ) (feminine and neuter), (Dutch schrift ), Old High German scrift (feminine) (Middle High German, German schrift ), Old Norse skript , skrift (feminine) (Swedish, Danish skrift ), verbal noun < shrive v.The meanings ‘penance’, ‘confession’ are confined to English and Scandinavian, arising apparently from an original meaning of ‘prescribed penalty’. The other languages have only the senses ‘writing’, ‘graphic art’, ‘scripture’, ‘written character’.

Now archaic or Historical.

†1. Penance imposed by the priest after confession; chiefly in phrases as to take, nim shrift; to do shrift; to give shrift. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > penance > [noun]

boot971

shriftc1030

penitencea1200

penancea1300

penitency1597

c1030 Laws Cnut ii. lxviii. (Liebermann) 354 Ægþer man sceal ge on godcundan scriftan ge on woruldcundan doman þas þingc tosceadan.

c1030–50 Eccl. Compensations iii Twa pund to bote mid godcundan scrifte.

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 17 Þet þu scalt gan to bote and niman scrift þer of al swa þe proest þe techet.

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 9 Ȝif hwa is swa sunful..þet nulle for his ouermoð..his scrift ihalden.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9262 To wurrþenn fullhtnedd att hiss hannd. & forr to takenn shriffte.

c1200 Vices & Virtues 19 Wandeð to me,..and nemeð and doð scrift.

a1300 Cursor Mundi 26194 On seke man agh na scrift be laid.

a1300 Cursor Mundi 28300 I brake my scrifte vmquile mai falle.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9090 Sin i haf serued to haue þe scam, Gis me mi scrift.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 23297 For þei wolde no shrifte take And at her ende amendes make.

c1400 Rule St. Benet (prose) 21 Lauerd giue vs sua vre scrifte at do, þat we may hys rengne cum to.

2. The imposition of penance implying absolution, shrift came to be apprehended in certain contexts as = absolution.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > absolution > [noun]

shrifta900

forgivenessc900

absolutionOE

veny?c1225

soilinga1300

lesenessc1300

remission?1316

indulgence1377

assoilingc1380

pardona1393

veynea1425

pardoningc1443

remit1490

remitting1577

remittal1596

remitment1611

absolvement1689

a900 Confess. Ecgberti i. iii, in B. Thorpe Anc. Laws Eng. (1840) II. 172 Gif he gewitnysse hæfð..þæt he scriftes gyrnde & husles.

c1030–60 Laws Northumb. Priests viii Gif preost fulluhtes oððe scriftes forwyrne.

1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 8661 He..deide wiþoute speche Wiþoute ssrift & hosel.

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1829 [Havelok] smot him sone ageyn the brest, That hauede he neuere schrifte of prest.

c1400 Rule St. Benet (prose) 6 Scrif sal he do on þaim, þare sinnis for to les.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. ii. 207 I will giue him a present shrift, and aduise him for a better place.

1628 G. Wither Britain's Remembrancer ii. 1684 I leave it to the shrift Of their owne consciences.

1635 F. Quarles Emblemes iii. x. 161 I need no other shrift Than mine owne conscience.

1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth iii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 91 Father Francis the Dominican, from whom she had her shrift to-day.

1867 Month Jan. 21 When the words of shrift had been uttered.

†3. A confessor. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > confessor > [noun]

shriftc897

fatherOE

shrift-father?c1225

penancerc1300

confessor1340

shriver1340

penitencera1387

penitentiary?a1475

pentionary1560

confessary1629

confessarius1661

scruple-drawer1701

soul friend1891

c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xvi. 105 He ðonne ondette ælce costunge þe him on becume ðæm mode his scriftes beforan ðæm temple.

OE Crist III 1305 Ne mæg þurh þæt flæsc se scrift geseon on þære sawle, hwæþer him mon soð þe lyge sagað on hine sylfne, þonne he þa synne bigæð.

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 19 Þu scalt hit ibeten al swa þin scrifte þe tachet.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 307 Ne wið breres ne bibloðgi hire seolf wiðute schriftes leaue.

a1647 New Litany in J. Maidment Bk. Sc. Pasquils (1868) 57 From bussie Bishops without orders, As master shrifts in ther borders [etc.].

1860 W. F. Hook Lives Archbishops Canterbury I. vii. 407 If a man will..confess his sins to the shrift.]

4. to go, come to shrift: to resort to confession, seek the ministry of a priest in the sacrament of penance. Also †to seek to shrift.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > make confession [verb (intransitive)]

to go, come to shrift1008

shrivea1300

to be confessed ofc1400

to seek to shriftc1400

confess1597

1008 Laws Æthelred v. xxii Gyme his Cristendomes georne & gewunige gelomlice to scrifte.

a1023 Wulfstan Homilies xxxix. 181 Ga man to scrifte.

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 25 Ic wulle gan to scrifte for scome alswa doð oðer men.

c1250 Kent. Serm. in Old Eng. Misc. 32 Comeþ to srifte, forleted yure sennen, and þer of bieþ a-soiled.

c1315 Shoreham i. 948 Wanne he ne may to schryfte come.

c1400 Rule St. Benet (verse) 988 To be swift Eftir our sin to seke to schrift.

1583 W. Fulke Def. Transl. Script. vi. 192 To make the ignorant beleeue that the people went to auricular shrift.

1590 Tarltons Newes out of Purgatorie 13 The next time Lisetta came to shrift, after she had made her confession, and had receiued absolution.

1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ii. iii. 170 Bid her get leaue to morrow morning To come to shrift .

1630 T. Dekker Second Pt. Honest Whore v. ii. 275 Let the Gentlewoman alone, she's going to shrift.

a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 259 In the Church of Rome to go to Shrift Is but to put the Soul on a clean Shift.

1880 T. E. Webb tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust iii. vii [He] goes To shrift with nothing to disclose.

a. Confession to a priest; auricular confession; also, the sacrament of penance.More explicitly, † shrift of mouth.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > [noun]

shriftc1175

wil-shrift?c1225

shrivinga1250

confession1377

fassionc1440

shriftnessc1460

manifestation1657

confessional1816

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > [noun] > auricular

shrift of mouthc1175

ear-shrift1528

ear-confession1531

auricular confession?1542

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 11 Muchel is us þenne neod..sod scrift.

c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 73 Drede letteð þe mannes shrifte.

a1300 Cursor Mundi 25749 He..mak to preist his costes cuth, Wit reuth of hert and scrifte o mouth.

a1300 Cursor Mundi 27444 It es als vnder sel o scrift him sceud al to consail.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 14 Cristninge, conferminge, þe sacrement of þe wyefde, ordre, spoushod, þe holy ssrifte, and the laste anoylinge.

c1369 G. Chaucer Bk. Duchesse 1114 Me thynketh ye haue suche a chaunce As shryfte wythoute repentaunce.

c1450 Mirk's Festial 279 Apon scheryft wyth mowthe and satysfaccyon yn dede.

1528 W. Tyndale Obed. Christen Man f. xcvj^v Shrifte in the eare is verely a worke of sathan.

1567 W. Allen Treat. Def. Priesthod 215 Priuate shrifte, which they call nowe auricular confession.

1597 M. Drayton Englands Heroicall Epist. f. 11 As I should ioy t'absolue thee after shrift.

1652 T. Gataker Antinomianism 40 Some Popish Priest, pressing men to shrift.

1662 W. Petty Treat. Taxes 6 When every particular sheep was..drest and shorn three or four times per annum by Shrift.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. i. 54 Shrift was no part of her system. Yet she gently invited the dying penitent to confess his sins to a divine.

b. Phrases.

†(a) under or in shrift: in a state of penitence.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > penitence > [adjective]

under or in shriftc1175

repentantc1230

contritea1340

penitent1341

contrited1483

penitentiala1538

repentable1571

remorsed1579

remorseful1590

repent1598

remording1614

repentive1620

contritional1648

penitentiary1795

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 7 Ȝef we beod under sod scrifte.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 10473 & tær [uss clennseþþ] þatt fir. ȝiff þatt we rihht. Her endenn unnderr shriffte.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 9199 Ælc mon forð-rihte dude hine vnder scrifte.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 422 An hundred ger after is dead Adam fro eue in srifte abead.

c1400 Rule St. Benet (prose) 4 Þat here liuis in clene scrift..þai sall haue part wid him.

†(b) at, in shrift: at, in confession.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > [adverb]

at, in shriftc1175

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > penance > [adjective] > characterized by

at, in shriftc1175

penitentc1450

penanced1740

pea-shod1882

c1175 Lamb. Hom. 27 Hwet wule mon et scrifte bute he wulle forleten his misdede?

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 38 Schawið ofte ed schrifte ouwer ȝemeles her abuten.

c1330 Spec. Gy de Warewyke 796 Þat þu hit nilt in shrifte seie.

c1450 Mirour Saluacioun (Roxb.) 58 When we in shrift reherce oure synnes.

1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 25 Dost thou not laugh Liuia to see my ghostly father keepe me heere so long at shrift?

c1592 C. Marlowe Jew of Malta iii. (ad fin.) 'Twas told me in shrift, Thou know'st 'tis death and if it be reueal'd.

a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Loves Pilgrimage i. ii, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aaaaaaaa3^v/1 I have called my conscience to confession, And every sillable that might offend I have had in shrift.

1793 Minstrel II. 144 Crimes so enormous that they dared not confess them in shrift.

†(c) transferred.

ΚΠ

1596 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) xii. lxx. 293 Let this be spoken in Shrift, so was it spoke to me.

†(d) shrift's even n. Shrove Tuesday.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > specific Christian festivals > Sunday before Lent > [noun] > period following > first week of > Sunday, Monday, Tuesday of > Tuesday in

good tideOE

Fastingong1389

Shroveday14..

Fastern's Een1416

Fastgong1429

Fastingong Tuesday1448

Fastingong Evec1450

Fastern's Evec1475

Shrove Tuesdaya1500

Shrift Tuesday1542

shrift's even1568

Fastens Tuesday1585

gut-tide1608

Mardi Gras1699

Pancake Day1700

Pancake Tuesday1790

sharp-Tuesday1858

1568 (a1500) Colkelbie Sow iii. 124 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 307 At schriftis evin sum wes so battalouss That [etc.].

a. An instance of this; a confession on a particular occasion. to make one's shrift, to hear a shrift.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > [noun] > instance of

shriftc1275

confessionc1380

c1275 Passion our Lord 549 in Old Eng. Misc. 52 Þat we mote at vre scrift þane veond schende.

a1300 Cursor Mundi 27490 Ar he [a priest] ga to scriftes here Þat he may þus first his praier.

c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 745 With a sown as softe as ony shryfte.

c1480 (a1400) St. Andrew 896 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 89 Til hym þi schrift þu ma!

a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) ii. xiiii. sig. H.iiii^v When it came to the penance geuing, the foxe found that the most waighty sinne in al his shrift was glotonye.

1622 H. Wotton Let. Dec. in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1672) 314 He took occasion at the next shrift, to confer certain doubts with his Confessor.

1828 W. Scott Fair Maid of Perth ii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 44 For the purpose of making their several shrifts in the confessionals.

1839 J. P. Kennedy Rob of Bowl xxxiii In this temper he had made his shrift, and abjured the lawless life..into which his passions had plunged him.

1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. iii. 115 He said..that..your shrift should be as short and as clean as David's.

†b. A thing confessed. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1596 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) xii. lxx. 294 Blab'd be our Shrifts to women, of simplicitie, or spight.

†c. A place of confession, confessional. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > artefacts > furniture > confessional > [noun]

shriving pew1487

shrifta1616

confessionary1669

whispering-office1704

confessional1728

box1842

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iii. 24 My Lord shall neuer rest,..His bed shall seeme a schoole, his boord a shrift .

7. In a wider sense: Confession (of sin or wrong); admission (of guilt); revelation (of something private or secret).

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > manifestation > disclosure or revelation > [noun] > self-revelation > confession

anyetenessc1175

anyetingc1175

shrifta1340

unburdening1550

confession1604

eviscerationa1631

disembosoming1836

disbosoming1844

unburdenment1892

sharing1931

a1340 R. Rolle Psalter vii. 18 Þis shrift is noght of synne, bot of rightwisnes of god.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 173 Upon the schrifte of thi matiere.

?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 47 I schaw, ȝow sister, in schrift, I wes a schrew euer.

1601 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor i. i. sig. B4 Ile studie (by some milder drift) To call my sonne vnto a happier shrift .

1633 J. Ford 'Tis Pitty shee's Whore iii. sig. F3 His Vnkle..Will hinder all, and call his Couze to shrift.

1668 R. L'Estrange tr. F. G. de Quevedo y Villegas Visions (1708) 133 If this Gallant were taken to shrift.

1678 R. L'Estrange Seneca's Life in tr. Seneca's Morals: Of Benefits p. xxxix Then do I Recollect all that I have said, or done that day, and take my self to shrift.

1678 R. L'Estrange tr. Of Happy Life vi. 80 in Seneca's Morals Abstracted (1679) Our Vices will abate of themselves, if they be brought every day to the Shrift.

1865 S. Evans Brother Fabian's MSS 88 A dread Grew up between them such as those may tell Who have made shrift of love.

†8. Rendering confessio of the Vulgate: Acknowledgement of the power and glory of God. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > [noun]

worthingeOE

bigengOE

worshipOE

knowledgingc1225

praising?c1225

holinessc1275

servicec1275

servingc1275

shrifta1300

anourc1330

worshippinga1333

devotion1340

blessing1382

the calves of our lipsc1384

gloryc1384

magnifyingc1384

worshipfulnessc1390

adoringc1405

divine service1415

adorationc1443

reverencingc1443

praise1447

culture1483

common servicea1500

venerationa1530

thanksgiving1533

cult1613

cultus1617

doxology1649

glorifying1748

feasting1840

a1300 E.E. Psalter xli. 5 In steuen of gladschip and ofe schrifte.

c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 71 Þis song of þes children, where we maken an opin schrift þat God is passingli blessid.

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) 3 Esdras ix. 8 And now ȝiueth shrifte, and gret doing to the Lord God of oure fadris.

a1400 Prymer (St. John's Cambr.) (1891) 23 Entrith his ȝatis in schrift.

9. short shrift: originally a brief space of time allowed for a criminal to make his confession before execution; hence, a brief respite; to give short shrift to, to make short work of.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > delay or postponement > [noun] > asked for or granted

fristc1175

respitec1300

sojourningc1400

respetta1450

reprievala1586

reservation1590

short shrift1815

the world > action or operation > doing > activity or occupation > occupy or engage (a person) [verb (transitive)] > conduct (an affair) > deal with (a matter) > specific manner > quickly or summarily

to make short work of (occasionally with)1577

to give short shrift to1887

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iii. iv. 95 Make a short shrift, he longs to see your head. ]

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles v. xxxii. 215 Short were his shrift in that debate...If Lorn encounter'd Bruce!

1823 W. Scott Quentin Durward I. viii. 213 They are like to meet short shrift and a tight cord.

1879 W. H. Dixon Royal Windsor II. xxxi. 315 Short trial, shorter shrift, had been given to the chief criminals.

1887 Times 15 Feb. 4/3 Every argument..tells with still greater force against the present measure, and it is to be hoped that the House of Commons will give it short shrift to-night.

1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 82 If he were brought to his trial he would have a short shrift and no favour.

Compounds

† shrift child n. Obsolete one who goes to confession to a certain priest, a penitent.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > sacrament > confession > [noun] > person undergoing

penantc1330

repentantc1390

penitenta1425

penancera1500

repenter1543

penitentiary1563

shrift child1568

penitentionary1577

contritea1600

penitencerc1600

confessanta1603

shriveling1603

confitent1606

confessary1608

penitentiala1633

confessionaire1747

mourner1807

1568 V. Skinner tr. R. González de Montes Discouery Inquisition of Spayne f. 58*^v That any other gostly father had dealt in any such like sort with any of his shrift children.

1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. II. iv. ii. sig. Aaa.vi/2 By those confessions the confessours coulde cunningly..robbe theyr shrift-children..of theyr..substaunce.

shrift-district n. Historical = shrift-shire n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > confessor > [noun] > district of

shrift-shire1838

shrift-district1872

1872 E. W. Robertson Hist. Ess. 196 The secular priest..was not expelled from his ‘shrift-district’.

† Shrift Monday n. Obsolete = Shrove Monday n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > specific Christian festivals > Sunday before Lent > [noun] > period following > first week of > Sunday, Monday, Tuesday of > Monday in

Shrove Mondayc1450

merry Monday1565

Fat Monday1585

Shrift Monday1587

Collop Monday1614

1587 in Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1908) 5 133 I came on Shrift Munday last to Mr. Pawlet of Heryote.

shrift-shire n. [representing Old English scriftscír] Historical the district in which a priest exercised his functions.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > confessor > [noun] > district of

shrift-shire1838

shrift-district1872

1838 H. Soames Anglo-Saxon Ch. (ed. 2) 262 (note) Right is it that no priest do any of those things that belong to another, either to his minster, or in his shrift-shire.

1845 J. Lingard Hist. & Antiq. Anglo-Saxon Church (ed. 3) I. iv. 158 These districts allotted to priests were called priestshires, shriftshires, and kirkshires.

† shrift-silver n. Obsolete a fee paid on receiving priestly absolution.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > benefice > other financial matters > [noun] > church dues > for absolution

shrift-silver1402

sin-money1611

sin-rent1899

1402 Reply of Friar Daw Topias in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 46 Thi paroche preest, Jacke,..that nyl not..assoilen hem of her synne withouten schrift silver.

shrift-time n. pseudo-archaic Lent.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > worship > liturgical year > feast, festival > specific Christian festivals > Lent > [noun]

LentenOE

Lent tidelOE

Lentc1300

Lent timec1400

Quadragesime1483

Lent season?1490

Quadragesimac1560

Great Lent1591

Great Fasta1670

shrift-time1853

1853 D. Rock Church our Fathers III. ii. xii. 223 All through shrift-time or Lent.

† Shrift Tuesday n. Obsolete = Shrove Tuesday n.

ΘΚΠ