parson

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English persone,^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman parson, recorded in the 13th century, and Old French persone (“ecclesiastical dignitary, curate”), recorded in this sense in Anglo-Norman from 1174,^[4][5] from Latin persōna (“person; in post-classical Latin, rector of a parish”).^[4][6] Person comes from the same Latin noun, and the two began as one form and then split.^[7][8] The Latin noun meant "mask" and "role" before "person", and probably comes from Etruscan phersu (“mask”).^[9][7] The church use of the Latin word does not appear before the 11th century, and it still seemed new at the Council of Clermont in 1096, which spoke of clerics "quos personas vocant".^[4][6] Its origin is much disputed.^[6][4][5] Du Cange started from "personage, dignitary", the view Skeat also held;^[4][10][7] H. Schaefer held that the holder of a living, often a non-resident body or layman, merely figured in the role of rector while a vicārius (“substitute”) did the work;^[4][8] H. Rheinfelder suggested that the higher clergy used it for the lower clergy as their servants;^[4] and English legal writers such as Coke and Blackstone took the parson as the legal "person" who held the church's property and could sue and be sued.^[4][6][7] Etymonline adds a possible abbreviation of persōna ecclēsiae (“person of the church”),^[5] as does Klein.^[2] Clerical senses are also found in Old Frisian persona, Middle Dutch persone, Middle Low German persōne and Breton persoun.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A priest holding a parish living: c. 1275 in the current OED,^[4] late 13th century in Etymonline,^[5] and about 1250, as persone, in Barnhart and the 1989 edition of the OED.^[11][12] It appears earlier as a surname, Persun, in 1197,^[13] and the spelling with -a- begins in surnames in the late 13th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was narrow and legal: the holder of a parish benefice in full possession of its rights and dues.^[4][14] From 1591, in Spenser, the word widened to any beneficed clergyman of the Church of England, and then to any chaplain, curate or preacher;^[4][6] Johnson (1755) gives "the priest of a parish" first, then "a clergyman", and notes that it was applied to the teachers of the Presbyterians.^[15] In colloquial use it now tends to mean a Protestant minister.^[14][3] The clergyman's black dress gave a name, from 1773, to black or black-and-white animals and birds such as a black rabbit, a black lamb or a puffin, chiefly in British regional use.^[4][14] A signpost in the shape of a pointing finger was called a parson from 1785, in Grose, who explained that like a parson it sets people in the right way.^[4][16] Dialect phrases include parson's bell, the last bell rung before a service, and enough to make a parson swear, said in Warwickshire of anything very annoying.^[17] Parson's nose, the rump of a fowl, is recorded by 1834.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1275 – holder of a parish benefice.^[4] Barnhart has persone from about 1250.^[11]
• 1591 – any beneficed or Anglican clergyman, later any minister or preacher.^[4]
• 1773 – a black or black-and-white animal or bird.^[4]
• 1785 – a signpost with a pointing finger.^[4][16]
• 1834 – parson's nose, the rump of a fowl.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. In the Church of England, a priest in charge of a parish, especially the rector holding its benefice (now historical in the strict legal sense): The parson of the village held the living for forty years.^[18][3][14]
2. Any member of the clergy, especially a Protestant one.^[18][3][14]
3. In New Zealand, a nonconformist minister.^[18]
4. (chiefly British regional) An animal or bird with a black coat or black markings.^[4][3][14]
5. (chiefly British regional, rare) A signpost with a pointing finger.^[4][14]

Word family

• parsonically
• parsonish
• parsonage
• parson bird
• parson's nose
• parsonic

Related words

• person
• persona
• personage

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
12. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
14. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
18. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins