/ kənˈfeʃənl; NAmE / noun
a private place in a church where a priest listens to people making confessions
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English (as an adjective): the adjective from confession + -al ; the noun via French from Italian confessionale , from medieval Latin , neuter of confessionalis , from Latin confessio(n- ), from confiteri acknowledge, from con- (expressing intensive force) + fateri declare, avow.