exorcist

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English exorcist,^[2][3] also exorciste,^[4][2] borrowed from Late Latin exorcista,^{[3][5][4][6][7]} from Ancient Greek ἐξορκιστής (exorkistḗs, “exorcist”),^[3][5][7][4] from ἐξορκίζω (exorkízō, “to bind by oath; to exorcize”),^[3][5][7] itself from ὁρκίζω (horkízō, “to make someone swear”), from ὅρκος (hórkos, “oath”).^[5] The origin of the Greek word for oath is uncertain;^[5] Beekes, cited by Etymonline, mentions a proposed link with the Greek word for a fence, which is not generally accepted.^[5] The OED compares French exorciste,^[3] and Anglo-Norman exorciste is recorded from the mid-12th century for a member of one of the minor orders of the Church.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who drives out evil spirits: about 1384, in the early Wycliffite Bible (Acts 19:13), of some of the Jews who were "exorcistis or coniureris".^[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The Wycliffite translators already paired the word with conjurer, and in the 16th and 17th centuries it could also mean one who calls up spirits by magic, as in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar;^[2][3] Johnson (1755) gave this second sense as "an enchanter".^[9] In church use an exorcist was a cleric of the third of the four minor orders, recorded in English from 1564,^[3][6] a use the Anglo-Norman word had in the 12th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1384 – one who drives out evil spirits.^[3][2]
• 1564 – the third of the four minor orders of the Roman Catholic Church.^[3]
• before 1616 – one who calls up spirits by magic (obsolete).^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who drives out evil spirits by prayer or solemn command; one who performs exorcism.^[4][3][6]
2. (Roman Catholic Church) A member of the third of the four minor orders, or in the early Church a member of a minor order.^[4][3][6]
3. (obsolete, before 1616–1632) One who calls up spirits by magic; a conjurer or enchanter.^[3][9]

Word family

• exorcise

Related words

• exorcism

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.