A detective novel piqued my interest in this word confusion admission vs confession, so I went exploring.
According to Sammons, “an admission is a statement made for some purpose other than to acknowledge guilt.
A confession is an acknowledgement of guilt made by a person after an offense has been committed”.
| Admission | Confession |
|---|---|
| “It’s true I was at the house the day poor Fluffy was incinerated, your Honor, but I assure you I did not smell a thing.” | “Ok, fine, I did it! I shoved the cat in the oven on purpose!” |
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Admission | Confession |
|---|---|
 — |
 |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: admissions |
Noun
Plural: confessions |
| A statement acknowledging the truth of something
The process or fact of entering or being allowed to enter a place, organization, or institution by provision or existence of pecuniary means, or by the removal of obstacles
An act or condition of being received or accepted in a position, profession, occupation, or office
An acknowledgment of the truth of something A point or statement admitted
|
A formal statement admitting that one is guilty of a crime
[Also confession of faith] A statement setting out essential religious doctrine
|
| Examples: | |
| Noun: It was an admission of guilt. It was a tacit admission that things had gone wrong. He was a man who, by his own admission, fell in love easily. It was a question about the country’s admission to the UN. I had some difficulty securing admission to the embassy. Her condition required frequent hospital admissions. You’ll find that at the university admissions office. Admission is $1 for adults and 50 cents for children. Hospital admissions decreased nearly 65 percent. They finally allowed the admission of foreign aid workers into the zone of active conflict. They’re granting admission to the rare books room. He gained admission to the bar. His admission of the theft solved the mystery. |
He signed a confession to the murders.
By his own confession, he had strayed perilously close to alcoholism. She still had not been to confession. There’s a new book out, Confessions of a Driving Instructor. It was a Protestant confession of faith. Attending were leading figures from every Christian confession. His words are a political confession of faith. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: admissive, proadmission Noun: admittance, nonadmission, readmission Verb: admit |
Adjective: confessional, confessionary Adverb: confessionally Noun: confessional, preconfession |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late Middle English from the Latin admissio(n-), from the verb admittere, from ad- (to) + mittere (send). | Late Middle English via the Old French from the Latin confessio(n-), from confiteri meaning acknowledge, which is from con- (expressing intensive force) + fateri (declare, avow). |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
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Resources for Admission versus Confession
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Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: admittance
Sammons, Anna P. “What is the Difference Between in [sic] an Admission and a Confession?” Sammons Criminal Law. 24 May 2019. Web. 3 Oct 2022. <https://sammons-criminal-law.com/2019/05/24/what-is-the-difference-between-in-an-admission-and-a-confession/>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Lourdes Confession is Jean-noël Lafargue’s own work and is under the Free Art License, via Wikimedia Commons.
