Word Confusion: Admission versus Confession

Posted October 4, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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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
The Grand Theatre by Grand Island Tourism is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — There are a number of people waiting for admission.	Hearing Confession is a lithograph by J Woelfjle, after C van Beveran, under the CC BY 4.0 license, via Look and Learn and courtesy of the Wellcome Collection.
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 The money charged for allowing someone to enter a public place Entrance granted by permission or right [admissions] The number of people entering a place An act or condition of being received or accepted in a position, profession, occupation, or office Appointment An acknowledgment of the truth of something A point or statement admitted Concession	A formal statement admitting that one is guilty of a crime An admission or acknowledgment that one has done something that one is ashamed or embarrassed about A formal admission of one’s sins with repentance and desire of absolution, especially privately to a priest as a religious duty [confessions] Often humorous intimate revelations about a person’s private life or occupation, especially as presented in a sensationalized form in a book, newspaper, or movie [Also confession of faith] A statement setting out essential religious doctrine [Also Confession] The religious body or Church sharing a confession of faith A statement of one’s principles
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).

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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!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Admission versus Confession

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/>.

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