shriving

transitive verb shrived or shrove, shriven or shrived, shriving

1. to hear the confession of and absolve
2. to get absolution for oneself by confessing

Origin: ME shriven < OE scrifan, akin to Ger schreiben, to write < early WGmc borrowing < L scribere, to write: see scribe

intransitive verb

1. to make one's confession
2. to hear confessions