priest English · revision 5949

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=695|origins=la-lat presbyter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /priːst/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English prest, preost, [[inh|ang|prēost]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) probably a shortening of the older West Germanic form seen in Old Saxon and Old High German prēstar and Old Frisian prēstere,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) borrowed through Vulgar Latin *prester from [[m|la-lat|presbyter|t=elder, presbyter]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Greek [[m|grc|πρεσβύτερος|tr=presbýteros|t=elder, older]], a comparative of présbys “old man”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) This makes priest a doublet of [[presbyter]],^(Barnhart 1988) but the ēo of the Old English form is unexplained;^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart reports Kluge's alternative, a borrowing through an intermediate *prēvost from Latin [[m|la|praepositus|t=person placed in charge]] (see [[provost]]).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English prēost is from 695–96 in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) the OED has the Christian clergyman before the Reformation from about 601–4.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline) In the Old Testament sense it translated Hebrew kohen, Greek hiereus and Latin sacerdos;^(Etymonline) Word Origins notes that sacerdos, from sacer “holy”, was the usual Latin word for priest.^(Cresswell 2021) A Christian minister ranking below a bishop and above a deacon, with power to administer the sacraments, is the central sense.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) The figurative use, as in ''a priest of nature'', is from 1697.^(OED 1989) The verb, to ordain someone a priest, is from 1504.^(OED 1989) ''Priesthood'' is from Old English prēosthād (before 899),^(Barnhart 1988) and ''priestess'' from 1693.^(Barnhart 1988) In Scots, priest was also used of a Protestant clergyman.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 695 – prēost, in Old English.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 899 – prēosthād, priesthood.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – of pagan priests.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1504 – to ordain a priest.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1693 – ''priestess''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1697 – figurative use.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # In many Christian churches, a member of the clergy ranking below a [[bishop]] and above a [[deacon]], authorized to administer the [[sacrament|alt=sacraments]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who performs religious rites in any religion.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person regarded as serving or devoted to an ideal: ''a priest of art''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To ordain as a priest.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[priestless]]

+ * [[priestlike]]

+ * [[archpriest]]

+ * [[priestess]]

+ * [[priesthood]]

+ * [[priestly]]

+ * [[antipriest]]

+ * [[priestcraft]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[presbyter]]

+ * [[Presbyterian]]

+ * [[presbytery]]

+ * [[provost]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}