Definition of "confessor" []

• One who confesses. (noun)
• One who confesses faith in Christianity in the face of persecution but does not suffer martyrdom. (noun)
• A priest who hears confession and gives absolution. (noun)
• A priest who is one's spiritual mentor. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Rightly is he called the confessor of God, who continually preached the name of Christ, and who by his words, his examples, and his miracles excited peoples, tribes, and tongues unto the confession of his name, of human sin, and of divine promise!"
• "Moreover, he performed the offices of his holy ministry, and was commonly called the confessor of foreigners."
• "The word confessor is derived from the Latin confiteri, to confess, to profess, but it is not found in writers of the classical period, having been first used by the Christians."