confess Copy link Outline I. To acknowledge1. confĭtĕor, fessus, 22. făteor, fassus, 2 (identical in sense with confiteor; nd with same constr.)3. prōfĭteor, fessus, 3 (to confess willingly, to avow openly).--Note. The difference between this and the preceding words is seen in the following passage4. agnosco, nōvi, nĭtum, 3II. To concede (in argument) • confess: I. To acknowledge: 1. confĭtĕor, fessus, 2: to c. one's faults, c. peccatum suum, Cic.: with depend. clause: I c. that this has happened to me justly, hoc confiteor jure mihi obtigisse, Ter.: absol.: as you have heard her herself confess, ut eampse vos audistis confiterier, Pl.: with abl. and de: to c. concerning a crime, de maleficio c., Cic.: to c. Christ, Christum c., Prud. (but of willing, cheerful confession, better Chr. profiteri: v. infr.) 2. făteor, fassus, 2 (identical in sense with confiteor; nd with same constr.): he c.s that he has acted contrary to the public welfare for the sake of his friend, contra rempublicam se amici causa fecisse fatetur, Cic.: to c. what is false, falsum fateri, Cic. 3. prōfĭteor, fessus, 3 (to confess willingly, to avow openly).--Note. The difference between this and the preceding words is seen in the following passage: ita libenter confitetur ut non solum fateri, sed etiam profiteri (i. e. openly to avow and acknowledge), videatur, Cic. Caec. 9, 24. 4. agnosco, nōvi, nĭtum, 3: v. to acknowledge. N.B. Such sentences as these things are c.'d by all, must be converted into the active form, if fateor, or a compound of it, is to be used: e. g., haec omnes fatentur. II. To concede (in argument): concedere: v. to grant.