shrive

Etymology

Came into English via Middle English schryven, which developed 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, itself borrowed 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’), and Icelandic skrifa (‘to write’). See also scribe and scribble.