CONFES'SION, noun

1. The acknowledgment of a crime, fault or something to one's disadvantage; open declaration of guilt, failure, debt, accusation, etc.

With the mouth confession is made to salvation. Romans 10:10.

2. Avowal; the act of acknowledging; profession.

Who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession 1 Timothy 6:13.

3. The act of disclosing sins or faults to a priest; the disburdening of the conscience privately to a confessor; sometimes called auricular confession

4. A formulary in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission into a church.

5. The acknowledgment of a debt by a debtor before a justice of the peace, etc., on which judgment is entered and execution issued.