shrive
/ˈʃɹaɪv/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.22 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "If he have the condition of a saint and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me."
- "Doubtless he shrives this woman, […] / Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech."
- "I will not madly deem that power Of Earth may shrive me of the sin Unearthly pride hath revell’d in— […]"
- "My sins as scarlet are; let me go hence, / And in some cloister's school of penitence, / Across those stones, that pave the way to heaven, / Walk barefoot, till my guilty soul is shriven!"
- "c. 1798-1845, unknown author, The Croppy Boy 'Twas a good thought, boy, to come here and shrive."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *(s)kreybʰ-, schryven, sċrīfan, *skrīban, *skrībaną, scrībō