Shrove

Shrove is a historical term related to the verb shrive, meaning to administer absolution to a penitent after confession. In Christian practice, shriving involved confessing sins to a priest and receiving forgiveness before the begin­ning of Lent. In archaic or regional English, people spoke of being shriven or shrived as having undergone this rite. The word is now largely obsolete in everyday speech, surviving mainly in historical writing and in fixed phrases.

The term is closely associated with Shrovetide, the period of preparation for Lent in the medieval and early modern English calendar. Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, was traditionally a time for penitence, confession, and preparing for the Lenten fast. In various regions, customs during Shrovetide included visits, feasting, and, in some places, the burning or marking of the old year’s sins, with culinary traditions such as pancakes becoming linked to the day as a way to use up rich ingredients before the fast.

In contemporary usage, shrive and shriven appear primarily in historical, literary, or ecclesiastical contexts. The adjective shriven describes someone who has undergone the rite; related terms such as shriving denote the act itself. The language around shrive remains uncommon in everyday conversation but persists in discussions of liturgy and in historical documentation. See also Shrovetide and Shrove Tuesday.