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PRIEST
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("priest" is a kind of...):
clergyman; man of the cloth; reverend (a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church)
Holy Order; Order ((usually plural) the status or rank or office of a Christian clergyman in an ecclesiastical hierarchy)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "priest"):
vicar (a Roman Catholic priest who acts for another higher-ranking clergyman)
priestess (a woman priest)
pontifex (a member of the highest council of priests in ancient Rome)
Monsignor ((Roman Catholic Church) an ecclesiastical title of honor bestowed on some priests)
Father; Padre ('Father' is a term of address for priests in some churches (especially the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Catholic Church); 'Padre' is frequently used in the military)
domestic prelate ((Roman Catholic Church) a priest who is an honorary member of the papal household)
confessor (a priest who hears confession and gives absolution)
celebrant (an officiating priest celebrating the Eucharist)
canon (a priest who is a member of a cathedral chapter)
bishop (a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ)
archpriest; hierarch; high priest; prelate; primate (a senior clergyman and dignitary)
Instance hyponyms:
Aaron ((Old Testament) elder brother of Moses and first high priest of the Israelites; created the golden calf)
Domingo de Guzman; Dominic; Saint Dominic; St. Dominic ((Roman Catholic Church) Spanish priest who founded an order whose members became known as Dominicans or Black Friars (circa 1170-1221))
Derivation:
priesthood (the body of ordained religious practitioners)
priestly (befitting or characteristic of a priest or the priesthood)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A person who performs religious duties and ceremonies in a non-Christian religion
Synonyms:
non-Christian priest; priest
Classified under:
Nouns denoting people
Hypernyms ("priest" is a kind of...):
spiritual leader (a leader in religious or sacred affairs)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "priest"):
Druid (a pre-Christian priest among the Celts of ancient Gaul and Britain and Ireland)
flamen (a priest who served a particular deity in ancient Rome)
hoodoo (a practitioner of voodoo)
lama (a Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism)
magus (a member of the Zoroastrian priesthood of the ancient Persians)
priest-doctor; shaman (in societies practicing shamanism: one acting as a medium between the visible and spirit worlds; practices sorcery for healing or divination)
votary (a priest or priestess (or consecrated worshipper) in a non-Christian religion or cult)
Instance hyponyms:
Ezra (a Jewish priest and scribe sent by the Persian king to restore Jewish law and worship in Jerusalem)
Derivation:
priesthood (the body of ordained religious practitioners)
Context examples:
The first few months were very happy ones, and Beth often used to look round, and say How beautiful this is! as they all sat together in her sunny room, the babies kicking and crowing on the floor, mother and sisters working near, and father reading, in his pleasant voice, from the wise old books which seemed rich in good and comfortable words, as applicable now as when written centuries ago, a little chapel, where a paternal priest taught his flock the hard lessons all must learn, trying to show them that hope can comfort love, and faith make resignation possible.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
This priest I was able to find, and though he proved a very argumentative fellow, who took it absurdly amiss that I should point out to him the corrosive effect which modern science must have upon his beliefs, he none the less gave me some positive information.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“Our path was also crossed by a woman and by a priest, so all should be well with us. What say you, Edricson?”
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He was led forth, and a priest was brought who was to say a mass for his soul.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Before we start, I talk maybe two minutes with the priest at Anvig.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Besides, he could not bind all that he had in his nature—the rover, the aspirant, the poet, the priest—in the limits of a single passion.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Only if I see her married in my presence by a Greek priest whom I know.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
There were several of his priests and lawyers present (as I conjectured by their habits), who were commanded to address themselves to me; and I spoke to them in as many languages as I had the least smattering of, which were High and Low Dutch, Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Lingua Franca, but all to no purpose.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
I have seen, he said, the most beautiful scenes of my own country; I have visited the lakes of Lucerne and Uri, where the snowy mountains descend almost perpendicularly to the water, casting black and impenetrable shades, which would cause a gloomy and mournful appearance were it not for the most verdant islands that relieve the eye by their gay appearance; I have seen this lake agitated by a tempest, when the wind tore up whirlwinds of water and gave you an idea of what the water-spout must be on the great ocean; and the waves dash with fury the base of the mountain, where the priest and his mistress were overwhelmed by an avalanche and where their dying voices are still said to be heard amid the pauses of the nightly wind; I have seen the mountains of La Valais, and the Pays de Vaud; but this country, Victor, pleases me more than all those wonders.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
I put forward this obvious reflection, not out of any desire to disparage Mr. Waldron in particular, but that you may not lose your sense of proportion and mistake the acolyte for the high priest.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
