priest

Pronunciation

• IPA: /priːst/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English prest, preost, inherited from Old English prēost,^[2][3][4] probably a shortening of the older West Germanic form seen in Old Saxon and Old High German prēstar and Old Frisian prēstere,^[2][3][4] borrowed through Vulgar Latin *prester from presbyter (“elder, presbyter”),^[2][3][5] from Greek πρεσβύτερος (presbýteros, “elder, older”), a comparative of présbys “old man”.^[2][3][6] This makes priest a doublet of presbyter,^[3] but the ēo of the Old English form is unexplained;^[4][3] Barnhart reports Kluge's alternative, a borrowing through an intermediate *prēvost from Latin praepositus (“person placed in charge”) (see provost).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English prēost is from 695–96 in Barnhart;^[3] the OED has the Christian clergyman before the Reformation from about 601–4.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it was used for any holder of high church office or anyone authorized to minister sacred things, and by about 1200 it was used of pagan and Muslim religious leaders.^[2] In the Old Testament sense it translated Hebrew kohen, Greek hiereus and Latin sacerdos;^[2] Word Origins notes that sacerdos, from sacer “holy”, was the usual Latin word for priest.^[6] A Christian minister ranking below a bishop and above a deacon, with power to administer the sacraments, is the central sense.^[8][2] The figurative use, as in a priest of nature, is from 1697.^[7] The verb, to ordain someone a priest, is from 1504.^[7] Priesthood is from Old English prēosthād (before 899),^[3] and priestess from 1693.^[3] In Scots, priest was also used of a Protestant clergyman.^[9]

Timeline

• 695 – prēost, in Old English.^[3]
• before 899 – prēosthād, priesthood.^[3]
• c. 1200 – of pagan priests.^[2]
• 1504 – to ordain a priest.^[7]
• 1693 – priestess.^[3]
• 1697 – figurative use.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. In many Christian churches, a member of the clergy ranking below a bishop and above a deacon, authorized to administer the sacraments.
2. A person who performs religious rites in any religion.
3. A person regarded as serving or devoted to an ideal: a priest of art.

Verb

1. To ordain as a priest.

Word family

• priestless
• priestlike
• archpriest
• priestess
• priesthood
• priestly
• antipriest
• priestcraft

Related words

• presbyter
• Presbyterian
• presbytery
• provost

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ 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)