▪ I. priestly, a.
(ˈpriːstlɪ)
[f. priest n. + -ly1: in OE. préostlic.]
1. Of or pertaining to a priest or priests; sacerdotal; † in OE., canonical (obs.).
| c 1000 Corp. Chr. Coll. Camb. MS. 191, 150 Eac ic minᵹie þæt hi ᵹemunon þæs preostlican reᵹoles. 1535 Coverdale 1 Esdras viii. 55, I weied them the golde & the syluer & all the prestly ornamentes of the house of oure God. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. ii. vii. (1634) 156 They are all endued both with Priestly and Kingly honour. 1641 Impeachm. Wren in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 354 Some of which he did against his Priestly Word given to the said Patrons, or their Friends, in verbo Sacerdotis, not to do the same. 1782 Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. ii. 224 Lactantius said little..of Christ's priestly office. 1838 Thirlwall Greece xi. II. 6 The tribe which has been taken for a priestly caste. 1891 Marquis of Salisbury in Daily News 22 Jan. 6/1 Priestly rule is the great vice of the religious organization..; it is the attempt to use the influence gained by teachers of religion, by virtue of their holy mission, in the furtherance of secular ends. 1901 Bp. Gore Body of Christ iv. §4 (1907) 255 The fathers..clearly see that the priestly action of Christ is now in heaven. |
b. priestly code, in O.T. criticism: A name given to one of the constituent elements which recent criticism finds in the Hexateuch, and holds to constitute the framework of the whole in its existing form. Also called priests' code, priestly writing; so priestly writer, the writer of this.
| [1891 Driver Introd. Lit. O. Test. 9 By Ewald it was termed the ‘Book of Origins’; by Tuch and Nöldeke, from the fact that it seemed to form the groundwork of our Hexateuch, the ‘Grundschrift’; more recently, by Wellhausen, Kuenen, and Delitzsch, it has been styled the ‘Priests' Code’. This last designation is in strictness applicable only to the ceremonial sections in Ex.—Nu... It may be represented conveniently, for the sake of brevity, by the letter P.] 1899 F. H. Woods in Hastings' Dict. Bible II. 365/2 Thus we find three distinct codes—the Covenant code (C), the Deuteronomic (D), the Levitical or Priestly (P). Ibid. 368/2, P. The Priestly Book. The most striking general characteristics of P. 1900 Carpenter & Harford-Battersby Hexateuch I. xiii. 121 The Priestly Code. The large extent and the complicated character of this great collection raise many problems. 1901 Encycl. Biblica II. 2050 The characteristic feature in the hypothesis of Graf is that the Priestly Code is placed later than Deuteronomy, so that the order is no longer Priestly Code, Yahwist (JE), Deuteronomy, but Jehovist (JE), Deuteronomy, Priestly Code. 1905 Expositor Jan. 68 The district..is termed by the Priestly Writer the ‘Steppes of Moab’. |
2. Befitting or characteristic of a priest; like that of a priest.
| 1504–5 in Brand Hist. Newcastle (1789) I. 641 Such..honest conversation..as..shalbe thought convenient and prestly. 1608 Shakes. Per. iii. i. 70 Hie thee whiles I say A priestly farewell to her. 1905 A. C. Benson Upton Lett. (1906) 25 He [Newman] had little of the priestly hunger to save souls. |
3. Having the character or aspect of a priest; such as a priest is or should be; like a priest.
| 1465 Marg. Paston in P. Lett. II. 242 A prystly man and vertusly dysposyd. 1832 Carlyle Remin. (1881) I. 51 John Johnston, the priestliest man I ever under any ecclesiastical guise was privileged to look upon. |
4. Holding the office of a priest; that is a priest.
priestly writer, in O.T. criticism: see 1 b.
| 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam xii. ix, Scared by the faith they feigned, each priestly slave Knelt for his mercy whom they served with blood. |
▪ II. ˈpriestly, adv. rare.
[f. priest n. + -ly2.]
In the character of, or in a way befitting, a priest.
| c 1400 Apol. Loll. 59 Þat þey be þolid to minister prestly oþer sacraments. 1493 Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 170 b, How blessyd ben preestes sayth he [S. Bernard] yf they preestly lyue. 1511 Colet Serm. Conf. & Ref. B iv b, Pristes, nat lyuynge pristly but secularly, to the vtter and miserable distruction of the churche. 1755 J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 78 His peruke was priestly smart. |