priesthood
(ˈpriːsthʊd)
Forms: see priest and -hood; also 4 prestod, -hold, 6 -woode.
[OE. préosthád, f. préost, priest n. + -hád, -hood.]
1. The office or function of a priest; the condition of being a priest; the order of priest.
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. vii. (1890) 34 Ða ᵹelamp þæt he sumne Godes mann preosthades [orig. clericum quendam]..on gestliðnysse onfeng. c 1000 Aldhelm Gloss. 3692 in Napier O.E. Glosses 98 Clericatus, preosthades. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 58 Who euere comeþ to prestod. Ibid. 78 Nowe, whanne presthold stondeþ in peny clerkis. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 105 Symon..preost of þe temple and bisshop,..bouȝte þe preosthood of Appolinus duke of Phenicia. Ibid. 125 He hadde renewed þe principalte and þe preosthode. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 412/2 Preesthood, presbiteratus. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Ordering of Priests, Reuerende Father in God, I presente unto you, these persones presente, to bee admitted to the ordre of Priesthode. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vii. §12 When an order of Priesthood different from the Aaronicall should be set up. 1729 Law Serious C. x. (1732) 142 He therefore..is like him that abuses the Priesthood. 1865 R. W. Dale Jew. Temp. xiii. (1877) 139 It was these circumstances that made the priesthood of Melchizedek unique. |
b. The priestly office of Christ, of his Church, or of believers.
| 1382 Wyclif Heb. vii. 24 [Christ], for that he dwelle into withouten ende, hath euerelastyng presthod. 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 130 To explain the Priesthood, and Priestly Acts of our Saviour. 1851 Pusey Let. to Bp. London 25 In His abiding Priesthood after the order of Melchisedech, He pleads, in Heaven, what He has commanded us to plead on earth. 1868 Lynch Rivulet cx. ii, And the pale Victim, in the strife, Eternal priesthood earns. 1897 R. C. Moberly Ministerial Priesthood iii. 87 The true rationale and the true distinction (within the inclusive priesthood of the Christian Church Body) at once of the priesthood of the Christian layman, and of the priesthood of the Christian minister. Ibid. iii. §2. 251 The Church's priesthood being in its inner truth the priesthood of Christ, is a substantial reality. |
c. The priestly office personified.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxii. 334 Grace deuysede A cart, hihte cristendome, to carien home peers sheues;..And made preesthood haiwarde. c 1420 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 839 Preesthood theym folowyd with the Sacramentes, And Sadnesse also with the Commaundementes. Ibid. 1426, 1452, etc. |
† d. With possessive, as a mock title for a priest.
| 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. i. 23 What, Cardinall? Is your Priest-hood growne peremptorie? |
2. The office or order as embodied in or represented by the persons holding it; hence, The system of priests; the or a body of priests.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 93 Riȝt so out of holicherche alle yueles spredeth, There inparfyt presthod is prechoures and techeres. c 1400 Destr. Troy 11778 The glemyng of gold, þat glottes þere hertis..puttes the pouer of pristhode abake. 1539 Bible (Great) 1 Tim. iv. 14 The layinge on of handes by the auctoryte of presthode. 1678 Dryden & Lee Œdipus iii. i, Oh, why has priesthood privilege to lie, And yet to be believed! 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 415 This severity is easily accounted for from the dignity assumed by the priesthood. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. i. ii, But the priests—I doubt the priesthood Will not be with us. 1883 Gilmour Mongols xxxi. 361 Sacred books used by the priesthood and laity of Mongolia. |
| transf. and fig. 1382 Wyclif 1 Pet. ii. 9 Ȝe ben a kynd chosun, kyngly presthod, holy folk [1526 Tindale, a chosen generacion, a royall presthod]. 1805 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. III. 257 Schemes of public instruction..may hire the literary priesthood of philosophy, to all the servility which it imputes to the Christian clergy. 1901 Bp. Gore in Daily Chron. 18 Oct. 6/7 There must be a priesthood of medicine. |