priest

▪ I. priest, n.
    (priːst)
    Forms: 1–4 préost, (1 pr{iacu}ost, preast, 2 proest, 3 prost), 1–6 prēst, (3–5 prust, pruest, 4–5 prist, 4–6 pryst, preste, priste), 4–7 preest, -e, (2) 4– priest, (4–6 preist, -e, 5 preyst, 6 preast, pryste).
    [OE. préost = OHG. prêst, priast, ON. prest-r (Norw. prest, Sw. präst, Da. præst); app. shortened from the form seen in OS. prêstar, OHG. prêstar, priestar (MDu., Du., MHG., Ger. priester), OFris. prêstere; ultimately from L. presbyter (-biter), a. Gr. πρεσβύτερος elder: see presbyter; perh. immediately through a Com. Romanic *prester (whence OF. prestre, F. prêtre, Sp. preste, It. prete). The origin of éo in OE. préost, and the anterior phonetic history of this and the other monosyllabic forms, are obscure; see Pogatscher Lehnworte im Altengl. §142. The ON. may have been from OLG. or OE.]
    A. Illustration of Forms.

[805 Charter Cuðred of Kent in O.E. Texts 442 Beforan wulfre[de] arcebiscope & æðelhune his mæsseprioste.] a 900 (MS. c 1120) Eng. Laws ælfred c. 21 ᵹif preost oþerne man ofslea..hine biscop onhadiᵹe. [c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. ii. 4 Principes sacerdotum [gl.] ða aldormenn biscopa vel mesa-preasta. c 1000 ælfric Colloquy in Wr.-Wülcker 100/13 Sacerdos, mæsseprest.] c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 17 Al swa þe proest þe techet. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 29 Priest oðer munec. a 1250 Owl & Night. 733 An prostes upe londe singeþ. a 1325 Poem on Consistory Crts. in Pol. Songs (Camden) 159 A pruest proud ase a po, Seþþe weddeþ us bo. 13.. Cursor M. 2145 (Cott.) He was king and prest [Gött. priest] o salem. Ibid. 19136 (Edin.) Þai gaderit oute baþe prince and priste [v. rr. prist, prest, preist, preest]. Ibid. 28137 (Cott.) Til vncouth pryst. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 195 Preostes, þat shulden ben lyȝt of heuenly lif. 1387 Trevisa Higden vi. xxix. (MS. Cott. Tib.), ‘Nay’, quaþ Harold, ‘hy beþ no prustes, bote a beþ wel stalword knyȝtes. 1426 Audelay Poems 3 Pristis that bene lewyd in here levyng. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 412/2 Preeste, sacerdos, presbiter, capellanus. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6942 A preste sange at ane altere. 1504 Lady Margaret tr. De Imitatione iv. vi. 268 Whan the preyst sayth masse. 1521 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 4 To a preiste to syng for my saull. 1529 Preest, c 1540 Pryst [see B. 2 a]. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer (passim) Priest. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (1895) 74 If I were a priest. 1587 Preist [see B. 2 c].

    B. Signification.
    [Etymologically priest represents Gr. πρεσβύτερος, L. presbyter, elder; but by a.d. 375 or earlier, and thus long before the L. or Romanic word was taken into Eng., the L. word sacerdos, originally, like Gr. ἱερεύς, applied to the sacrificing priests of the heathen deities, and also, in the translations of the Scriptures, to the Jewish priests, had come to be applied to the Christian ministers also, and thus to be a synonym of presbyter. In OE., L. presbyter was usually represented by préost; L. sacerdos, applied to a heathen or Jewish priest, was usually rendered by sacerd (regularly so in Hexateuch, Psalms, and Gospels); sometimes, when applied to a Jewish or Christian priest, by préost or more particularly mæsse-préost (mass-priest). But, with the close of the OE. period, sacerd became disused, and préost, prēst, like OF. prestre, became the current word alike for presbyter and sacerdos, and thus an ambiguous term.
    1583 Fulke Defence i. 15 Which distinction [of ἱερεύς and πρεσβύτερος] seeing the vulgar Latine texte doth alwaies rightly obserue, it is in fauour of your hereticall Sacrificing Priesthoode, that you corruptly translate Sacerdos and Presbyter alwayes, as though they were all one, a Priest. 1827 Whately Logic 257 The term Ἱερεὺς does seem to have implied the office of offering sacrifice,..the term Priest is ambiguous, as corresponding to the terms Ἱερεὺς and πρεσβύτερος respectively, notwithstanding that there are points in which these two agree. These therefore should be reckoned, not two different kinds of Priests, but Priests in two different senses. 1869 Lightfoot Phillipians (ed. 2) 184 The word ‘priest’ has two different senses. In the one it is a synonyme for presbyter or elder, and designates the minister who presides over and instructs a Christian congregation: in the other it is equivalent to the Latin sacerdos, the Greek ἱερεύς, or the Hebrew {hebnunfin}{hebhe}{hebkaph}, the offerer of sacrifices, who also performs other mediatorial offices between God and man. 1897 R. C. Moberly Ministerial Priesthood vii. §4. 291 The Church of England in her refusal to abandon the title ‘priests’ (by this time identified verbally with sacerdotes and ἱερεῖς).]
    I. One whose office is to perform public religious functions; an official minister of religious worship. (See also high priest, parish priest.)
    † 1. Used for a presbyter or elder of the early church. Obs. rare. (Chiefly in early translations of Gr. πρεσβύτερος, L. presbyter, in N. Test.)

1382 Wyclif Tit. i. 5, I lefte thee at Crete, that thou..ordeyne by cytees prestis [Vulg. presbyteros; 1582 (Rhem.) shouldest ordaine priestes by cities]. c 1400 Apol. Loll. (Camden) 30 Bi forn þat presthed was hied,..ilk prest of Crist was callid indifferently prest and bischop. 1563 J. Man Musculus' Commonpl. 274 Thei do alleage the place of James [v. 14]: ‘Whan any bodie is sicke amongest you, let him brynge in the Priestes [inducat presbyteros] of the Churche and let them praie ouer him’.

    2. In hierarchial Christian churches: A clergyman in the second of the holy orders (above a deacon and below a bishop), having authority to administer the sacraments and pronounce absolution.
    Historically repr. L. presbyter, but often including the sense of L. sacerdos (see above), and thus that of 4 b.
    a. before the Reformation.

? 601–4 (MS. c 1120) Laws of æthelberht c. 1 Biscopes feoh xi ᵹylde. Preostes feoh ix ᵹylde. Diacones feoh vi ᵹylde. Cleroces feoh iii ᵹylde. 695–6 (MS. c 1120) Laws Wihtræd c. 6 ᵹif priost læfe unriht hæmed oþþe fulwihðe untrumes forsitte,..sio he stille his þeᵹnungæ oþ biscopes dom. a 900, c 1175, etc. [see A.]. c 1205 Lay. 1 An preost wes on leoden Laȝamon wes ihoten. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 367 Þei sey þat iche bischop and prest may lawfully leeve hor first dignyte, and after be a frere. 1483 in Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 239, I woll that my executours fynde an honest seculer prest to syng for my soule. 1529 Rastell Pastyme, Hist. Rom. (1811) 29 Preestis Grekes myght haue wyfis which to preestis Latens was forboden. c 1540 Pilgr. T. 54 in Thynne's Animadv. (1865) App. 78 Benet..was a brother & no pryst. 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 68 And from hence was the original of Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and Cardinals; there being several Titles and Cardinal Churches in Rome, the Priests that were Rectors over them, were call'd Cardinal Priests. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. Introd. iv. 111 Every man was at liberty to contribute his tithes to whatever priest or church he pleased, provided only that he did it to some. 1844 Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) I. iv. 133 These ministers were at first confined to the three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons. Ibid. II. i. 15 The seventh order (that of the priesthood) was subdivided into two classes,—of bishops, who possessed it in all its plenitude, and of priests. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. viii. §85. 227 As the kingdom and shire were the natural sphere of the bishop, so was the township of the single priest.

    b. in the Church of England since the Reformation. (The specific name of the order; but in common speech usually comprehended under the more general term clergyman, except in rural parts of the northern counties, where the parish clergyman is commonly called ‘the priest’.) priest-in-charge (see quot. 1977).

1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Comm. Prayer, The Fourme of Ordering Priestes. Rubric. The Bisshoppe with the priestes present, shal lay theyr handes seuerally upon the head of euery one that receiueth orders. 1652 (title) A Priest to the Temple; or the Character of a Country Parson. By G. Herbert. 1652 Evelyn Diary 14 Mar., It being now a rare thing to find a priest of the Church of England in a parish pulpit. 1706 A. Bedford Temple Mus. iv. 78 Our not admitting Priests until Four and Twenty Years old, is an Argument. 1833 Tracts for Times No. 5. 11 The Priests and Deacons (whom we usually class together under the common name of Clergymen).

1814 Wordsw. Excursion vii. 316 You, Sir, know that in a neighbouring vale A priest abides before whose life such doubts Fall to the ground. 1868 Atkinson Cleveland Gloss., Priest, a Church-of-England clergyman: not infrequently called a Church-priest. 1887 ‘Mabel Wetheral’ Two N.-C. Maids xxiv, Mr. Northcote they called the priest, and a real good gentleman he was.

1941 A. Thirkell Northbridge Rectory iii. 59 At St. Sycorax, where he was priest-in-charge, a title which gave him deep pleasure, he indulged in a perfect orgy of incense and vestments. 1963 Times 4 Feb. 12/4 In the summer..he will become priest-in-charge of Titsey..in the Southwark diocese. 1976 Oxf. Diocesan Mag. July 18/2 Stanford Dingley is not typical of rural parishes, in that, though very small, it has had its own priest, though not actually resident, for the last 20 years—a rector, a curate, and now a priest-in-charge. 1977 Macmorran & Elphinstone Handbk. Churchwardens (new ed.) vi. 61 The unbeneficed clergy..fall into two classes: first, ministers in charge of benefices which for the time being lack the services of any incumbent (generally called ‘curates-in-charge’ or ‘priests-in-charge’): and secondly, assistant curates, viz. clergymen appointed to assist incumbents within their parishes. 1979 Guardian 31 Oct. 10/7 Actually he isn't even a vicar. He's just a priest in charge who's been there about eighteen months.

    c. in R.C. Ch. since the Reformation, and in the Eastern Church. (The usual name in common as well as official use.)

1587 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 233 Jesuitis or seminarie preistis. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 164 This place belongeth to the Georgians: whose Priests are poore, and accept of almes. No other nation say Masse on that altar. 1631 High Commission Cases (Camden) 197 A petition to the Court in behalf of a Popish priest, a prisoner. 1885 Catholic Dict. (ed. 3) 193/1 If a coadjutor is wanted for a parish priest, it is for the bishop of the diocese to nominate one. Ibid. 564/2 Missionary priests, such as those in England and Scotland, are mere delegates of the bishop without cure of souls in the strict sense. 1901 Macm. Mag. 414/2 In every Catholic parish the priest is at the very heart of things.

    3. a. In more general sense: A clergyman, a member of the clerical profession, a minister of religion (in OE. often transl. clericus).
    ‘[In Anglo-Saxon use] priest is a generic term including all clergymen, from the lowest rank; mass-priest specifies one who has received the order of priesthood. The simple clerk is the mass-priest's priest—mæsse-preostes preost.—Thorpe II. 412 No. 15’ (Lingard Anglo-Saxon Ch. I. iv. (1858) 134).

a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xvii. [xix.] (1890) 454–6 He [Wilfrid] wæs to preoste besceoren fram him [orig. attonsus est ab eo]... Þa fyliᵹde hine Wilfrið his preost & his hondþeng [orig. secutus est Vilfrid clericus illius]... On þa tid..was Willfrid to mæssepreoste ᵹehalᵹad [orig. presbyter ordinatus est]. c 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 155/30 Sacerdos, sacerd... Clericus, preost. c 1450 Prov. in Deutsch. Neuphil. (1906) 53 Thow shall do as þe preste says, but not as þe preste does. 1483 Cath. Angl. 291/1 A Preste, capellanus, flamen,..sacerdos, presbiter. 1560 Pilkington Expos. Aggeus D j b, They said it was neuer good worlde synce euery shoomaker could tel the priests duty. 1653 Holcroft Procopius, Gothic Wars i. ii. 6 For let Priests or private men speake as they are perswaded, I can say no other thing concerning God, but that he is absolutely good. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 777 Each village inn has heard the ruffian boast That never priest believed his doctrines true. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab iv. 168 War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight. 1847 James Convict iv, We are priests of different churches.

    b. fig. One whose office is likened to that of a priest, as a priest of nature, priest of science, etc.

1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 675 Ye sacred Muses..Whose Priest I am, whose holy Fillets wear. 1803–6 Wordsw. Intim. Immort. v, The Youth, who daily farther from the east Must travel, still is Nature's Priest. 1827 Hare Guesses (1859) 32 Eschylus and Aristotle, Shakspeare and Bacon, are priests who preach and expound the mysteries of man and the universe. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxxvii, This faith has many a purer priest, And many an abler voice than thou.

    4. A sacrificing priest, a minister of the altar. a. In the Jewish church, and other pre-Christian systems (as used in the Bible, rendering Heb. kōhēn, Gr. ἱερεύς, L. sacerdos).

[c 950: see A. c 1000 Gosp. Nicodemus x. (Thwaites) Ða cwædon þa ealdras & þa mæssepreostas to Pilate..he byþ deaþes scyldiᵹ.] c 1200 Ormin 293 Aaron wass þe firrste preost Off Issraæle þeode. Ibid. 466 He [Zacaryas] wass, alls icc hafe seȝȝd, God prest, & Godd full cweme. a 1300 Cursor M. 5584 (Cott.) Of [iudas] com kinges..And of his broþer leui bredd, þe pristes þat þair lagh ledd. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xiv. 18 Melchisadech, the kyng of Salem..forsothe he was the prest of the heiȝest God. ― Heb. vii. 1. 1535 Coverdale Exod. xxxi. 10 The mynistrynge vestimentes of Aaron y⊇ prest. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxviii. §2 Because the most eminent part both of Heathenish and Jewish service did consist in sacrifice, when learned men declare what the word Priest doth properly signify according to the mind of the first imposer of that name, their ordinary scholies do well expound it to imply sacrifice. 1611 Bible John xix. 21 Then said the chiefe Priests [Vulg. pontifices, Wyclif bischops, Tindale to Geneva hye prestis, Rhem. cheefe priests] of the Iewes to Pilate, Write not, The king of the Iewes. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 353 Factious they [Israelites] grow; But first among the Priests dissension springs, Men who attend the Altar. 1860 Gardner Faiths World II. 713 The high-priest and the ordinary priests were chosen exclusively from the family of Aaron. It was the duty of the priests to serve at the altar, preparing the victims for sacrifice, and offering them up on the altar. 1901 Encycl. Biblica II. 2052 Before the Exile there were..differences of rank among the priests; but the chief priest was only primus inter pares; even Ezekiel knows no high priest in the sense of the Priestly Code.

    b. In specific Christian use, The officiant at the Eucharist and other sacerdotal offices. (Denoting the same ecclesiastical order as in 2, but with a specific connotation.)

695–6 Laws Wihtræd c. 18 Preost hine clænsie sylfæs soþe, in his halᵹum hræᵹle ætforan wiofode..Swylce diacon hine clænsie. a 1225 Juliana 44 Hwen þe preost inwið þe messe noteð godes licome. 1466 in Archæologia (1887) L. i. 37 A hole sute of vestments..for prest dekyn and sudekyn. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Communion, Rubric, At the tyme appoincted for the ministracion of the holy Communion, the Priest that shal execute the holy ministery shall put upon hym the vesture appoincted for that ministracion. Ibid., Here the priest shall turne hym toward those that come to the holy Communion, and shall saye. You that do truly [etc.]. Ibid., Then shall thys generall Confession bee made..by one of the ministers, or by the prieste himselfe. 1657 Sparrow Bk. Com. Prayer (1684) 217 [Of Eucharistic rite in Eastern Ch.] When this Hymn of praise is finished, the Deacons with the Priest, set the holy Bread and Cup of Blessing upon the Altar. Ibid. 340 In respect of this Sacrifice of the Eucharist, the Ancients have usually call'd those that offer it up, Priests. 1858 J. H. Blunt (title) The Position of the Priest at the Altar. 1870 ― Dict. Doctr. & Hist. Theol. 591 The chief sacerdotal function of the Christian priest is to offer up on behalf of the people the Eucharistic Sacrifice. 1885 Catholic Dict. (ed. 3) 691 It is the office of a priest, according to the Pontifical, ‘to offer, bless, rule, preach, and baptise’. First, he is empowered to offer that sacrifice of the Mass which is the centre of all the Church's worship... He succeeds the Jewish ‘elder’ as well as the Jewish priest. Hence he is called ἱερεὺς and sacerdos—i.e. ‘sacrificing priest’, but also presbyter—i.e. ‘elder’.

    c. In a spiritual sense, applied (a) to Christ in his sacrificial or mediatorial character. (After Heb. v. 6, vii. 15–21.) (Cf. high priest 1 b.)

c 1200 Ormin 361, & ec forrþi þatt he [Crist] wass Preost, Hæfedd off alle preostess. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xix. 1 Þe prophet spekis of crist as of a prest, þat sall offire. 1382 Wyclif Heb. vii. 17 Thou art a prest into withouten ende, vp the ordre of Melchisedech. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 25 See Father,..these Sighs And Prayers..I thy Priest before thee bring. 1681–6 J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 586 That individual Humanity, which as our Priest be offered up for us on the Cross. 1719 Watts Ps. cx. 17 Jesus our Priest for ever lives To plead for us above. 1901 Bp. Gore Body of Christ iii. § 3 (1907) 192 This means that all our prayers and offerings have been united to the abiding sacrifice and offered by the Heavenly Priest.

    (b) to all believers (after Rev. i. 6), and to the Christian Church.

1382 Wyclif Rev. i. 6 The which..made us a kingdom, and prestes to God and to his fadir. [1539 Bible (Great) Exod. xix. 6 Ye shall be vnto me also a kyngdome of prestes & an holy people.] 1626 Donne Serm. iv. (1640) 33 Every man should come to that Altar, as holy as the Priest, for there he is a Priest. 1810 J. Benson Bible I. Exod. xix. 6 Thus all believers are, through Christ, made to our God kings and priests. 1897 R. C. Moberly Ministerial Priesthood vii. §2. 256 Then the Church is God's priest in the world and for the world. Ibid. §3. 279 If the Christian Church is a ‘priest’, offering ‘sacrifice’ in the perpetual Eucharist.

    5. a. An official minister of a pagan or non-Christian religion; originally implying sacrificial functions, but in later use often applied to the functionaries of any religious system, whether sacrificial or not.

c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3922 Balaac king was for-dred forðan,..And sente after balaam ðe prest. a 1300 Cursor M. 5412 (Cott.) Þe landes or þat lede, Þat taght was for þe preiste to fede. 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings xi. 18 Mathan..the prest [1388 preest] of Baal, thei slewen before the auter. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10784 In Iono ioly temple..Therein Paris was put with prestis of þe laghe. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. ii. 5 Go bid the Priests do present Sacrifice. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 55 The Priest doth sometimes reade vnto them some part of the Alcoran. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 27 As Eastern priests in giddy circles run, And turn their heads to imitate the Sun. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) III. 315 He had me educated by the priests of the Temple of Osiris. a 1822 E. D. Clarke Trav. Russia (1839) 70/1 A party of the elder Calmucks, headed by their priest. 1835 Thirlwall Greece I. vi. 201 The term priest always related not only to some particular deity, but to some particular seat of his worship. 1866 Tennyson Victim i, The Priest in horror about his altar To Thor and Odin lifted a hand. 1885 W. R. Smith in Encycl. Brit. XIX. 730/1 Orthodox Islam has never had real priests, doing religious acts on behalf of others.

    † b. Applied to a priestess. Obs. rare.

1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. (Grosart) V. 262 She was a pretty pinckany and Venus priest. 1608 Shakes. Per. v. i. 243 Diana. My Temple stands in Ephesus..There when my maiden priests are met together [etc.]. 1614 Chapman Masque Mid. Temple ii. A iij b, A little more eleuate, sate Eunomia, the Virgine Priest of the Goddesse Honor.

    † 6. Allusively, to be (a person's) priest: to kill him. ? Obs. (In allusion to the function of a priest in performing the last offices to the dying.)
    (The sense of quot. c 1430 is doubtful.)

[c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3858 The Iren with the hawberk met Right ageyn the self brest; Wel nigh it had ben his prest.] 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. iii. 37 Who first laies hand on me, ile be his Priest. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 272 And to preserue my Soueraigne from his Foe, Say but the word, and I will be his Priest. ? a 1800 in Cock's Simple Strains (1810) 135 (Jam.) Syne claught the fellow by the breast, An' wi' an awfu' shak, Swore he wad shortly be his priest.

    II. Transferred senses.
    7. A mallet or other weapon used to kill a fish when spent. (Chiefly in Ireland.) Cf. 6.

1851 Newland Erne, Leg. & Fly-Fishing 284 note, Priest, a short wooden mallet, whose offices are required when the salmon is in extremis. 1900 W. Senior Pike & Perch xi. 175 The baton, or short cudgel, used to perform the last offices for captured fish is still called the ‘priest’, the name lingering, perhaps, more in Ireland than in England or Scotland. 1906 Macm. Mag. Nov. 28 Lydon..lifted an iron thole-pin for a ‘priest’, gave a couple of decisive taps, and then laid it on the boards of the boat.

    8. Angling. Name for a kind of artificial fly.

1867 F. Francis Angling x. (1880) 369 The Priest..is a good general fly.

    9. A fancy breed of pigeons, of various colours.

1904 Times 6 Jan. 8/5 Priests, birds rarely seen nowadays at exhibitions.

    III. attrib. and Comb.
    10. a. Appositive (= that is a priest), as priest-astronomer, priest-chaplain, priest-doctor, priest-hermit, priest-king, priest-knight, priest-monk (= hieromonach), priest-noble, priest-philosopher, priest-poet, priest-prince, priest-ruler, priest-statesman, priest-victim. b. Of or pertaining to a priest or priests; priestly, sacerdotal, as priest-death, † priest-flock, priest-kingdom, † priest-linen, priest-massacre, priest-trap. Also priestcraft. c. Objective, instrumental, etc., as priest-baiting, priest-catcher, priest-harbouring, priest-hunter, priest-taker; priest-catching adj. (all in reference to the treatment of R.C. priests under the penal laws); priest-striver (one who strives or contends with a priest); priest-educated, priest-guarded, priest-hating, priest-led, priest-prompted adjs. Also priest-ridden. d. Special combs. (often with priest's): † priest's bonnet, name of some plant (? = priest's hood); priest-cap, priest's cap, (a) lit. a cap worn by a priest; (b) Fortif. an outwork with three salient and two re-entrant angles; † priest('s) crown, an old name for the dandelion, from the bald appearance of the receptacle (like a priest's shaven crown) when the pappus is blown off; priest-fish, the black rock-fish (Sebastichthys mystinus), common along the Pacific coast of N. America; priest's hole, a secret chamber or hiding-place for a (Roman Catholic) priest (in times of the penal laws); priest's hood, a name for the wild Arum (A. maculatum), from the form of the spathe (cf. monkshood); priest-ill, the ague (dial.) (Halliw. 1847–78); priest-in-the-pulpit = priest's hood (the spathe representing the pulpit, and the spadix the priest); priest('s) pintle, (a) = prec. (from the form of the spadix: cf. cuckoo-pint); (b) a name for Orchis mascula or other species of Orchis; priest-vicar, in some cathedrals, the name of a vicar choral who is a priest; a minor canon.

1899 Q. Rev. Apr. 456 The crowd..cheerfully joined the sport of *priest-baiting.

1685 J. Chamberlayne Coffee, Tea & Choc. 7 The Berries grow on a tree much like our *Priests Bonnet.

1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Bonnet à Prestre, or the *Priest's Cap, in Fortification, is an Out-work having at the Head three Saliant Angles, and two Inwards. 1887 R. B. Irwin in Battles & Leaders Civ. War III. 595 Paine attacked..at..the strongest point of the whole work, the priest-cap near the Jackson road. 1899 Daily News 14 Sept. 6/4 Rabbi—, attired in white robes, bound by a girdle, and surmounted by the scarf and priest-cap of white silk.

1688 Sir J. Knatchbull Diary in N. & Q. 3rd Ser. (1864) VI. 2/1 We should pay that respect to our *Priest-catchers they expected att our hands. 1886 J. Gillow Lit. & Biog. Hist. Eng. Cath. II. 531 One of those objectionable officials called pursuivants or priest-catchers.

1644 Mercurius Civicus 17–25 July 587 He would have nothing to doe with such *priest-catching Knaves.

1654 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 133 Wee found him besett close with Walter Montague, his *priest chaplaine.

1483 Cath. Angl. 291/1 *Preste crowne, quedam herba vel flos. 1530 Palsgr. 258/2 Prestes crowne that flyeth about in somer, barbedieu. 1598 Florio, Ambrosine,..Also Dandelion, Priests crown, Swines snout, Monkshead or Dogs teeth.

1897 Hazlitt Ourselves 67 The *Priest-Doctor has, like the Barber-Surgeon, relinquished his double function.

c 1200 Ormin 489, & talde laȝhess *presteflocc Comm all off þa twa prestess.

1848 Eliza Cook He that is without Sin i, A simple creed, Whose saving might has no *priest-guarded bound.

1894 H. Fishwick Hist. Lancs. 222 *Priest-harbouring was soon amongst the most prolific causes of arrest and imprisonment.

c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 128 Þe maister of his felowship went & shrafe hym vnto a *preste hermett.

1660 Pepys Diary 23 May, At a Catholique house, he was fain to lie in the *priest's hole a good while. 1850 E. Warburton R. Hastings II. 185 This was one of the old places of concealment called Priests Holes.

c 1516 Grete Herball ccxv. N j b/1 Some call it *prestes hode, for it hath as it were a cape & a tongue in it lyke serpentyne of dragons.

1875 Foley Rec. Eng. Prov. Soc. Jesus I. i. 493 Mr. Wiseman..got the *priest-hunters to come there at midnight with their band.

1907 Daily News 28 May 11/2 It is known also as Wake-Robin, Cuckoo Pint, and Lords-and-Ladies, but neither of these names describes the plant so well as the quaint *Priest-in-the-Pulpit.

1866–7 Baring-Gould Cur. Myths Mid. Ages, Prester John (1894) 46 The reports..of the piety and the magnificence of the *Priest-King [Prester John]. 1877 J. E. Carpenter tr. Tiele's Hist. Relig. 55 Lower Egypt throws off the yoke of the priest-Kings of Thebes. 1895 Sayce Patriarchal Palestine iii. 74 [Abram] had restored peace to the country of the priest-king [Melchizedek]. 1898 R. Brown in R. M. Dorson Peasant Customs (1968) I. 168 The majestic figure of the Priest-king of Uru-salim. 1920 H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. iii. xix. 124/2 The beginnings of organized war, first as a bickering between villages, and then as a more disciplined struggle between the priest-king and god of one city and those of another [in Mesopotamia]. 1928 A. Evans Palace of Minos II. ii. 774 The remains of the remarkable painted relief of the personage wearing a plumed lily crown and collar, in whom we may with good reason recognize one of the actual Priest-Kings of Knossos. 1939 J. D. S. Pendlebury Archaeol. Crete iv. 249 One [chariot] drawn by winged griffins contains two female figures, one of whom..has a headdress resembling in some ways that of the Priest King. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 24 Jan. 42/2 But he [sc. Charlemagne] was not a priest-king. 1978 Listener 28 Sept. 402/4 Were not priest-kings adored just because they were victims, in the sense that they were sacrifices for the people?

1905 Expositor Mar. 185 The character assumed by the Maccabaean *priest-kingdom.

1826 W. E. Andrews Exam. Fox's Cal. Prot. Saints 47 The cause for which the *priest-knight and the duchess-gentlewoman suffered.

1649 Milton Eikon. xv. Wks. 1851 III. 451 Those *Priest-led Herodians with thir blind guides are in the Ditch already. 1871 G. Macdonald Sonn. conc. Jesus xviii, Despised! rejected by the priest-led roar Of multitudes!

1561 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 175, Thre fardellis *prest lynnyng, allegit schippit be Anthonie Triciane.

1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) I. 86 Much less wou'd you..have carry'd on this magophony, or *priest-massacre, with such a barbarous zeal.

1881 T. E. Bridgett Hist. Eucharist in Gt. Brit. II. 167 Regulations regarding the private masses of the *priest-monks.

1872 Bagehot Physics & Pol. (1876) 38 The policy of the old *priest-nobles of Egypt and India.

1711 Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 76 'Twas satisfaction enough to the *priest-philosopher.

1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lvi. 222 The first kinde is called in Greeke ὄρχις, Orchis..in English..*Priest pintell. Ibid. iii. vii. 323 This plant is called..in Latine Arum:..in English also it is commonly called Aron, Priestes pyntill, Cockowpintell. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 56/1 A Dog-stone flower..is generally known by the name of Priest-Pintle, or Goat-Stones.

1895 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 440 The *priest-poet, appointed eulogizer of the deity he serves, is the first poet.

1877 J. E. Carpenter tr. Tiele's Hist. Relig. 56 The conflict of the Ethiopian *priest-princes..was in part national.

1839–52 Bailey Festus xix. 271 As guiltless..As is the oracle of an extinct god Of its *priest-prompted answer.

1920 H. G. Wells Outl. Hist. iii. xvi. 94/2 There [in the Euphrates-Tigris valley] flourished the first temples and the first *priest-rulers that we know of among mankind.

1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 27 He says not, they were *priest-strivers, but were like priest-strivers, persons whose habit it was to strive with those who spoke in God's Name.

1679 Bradley in R. Mansel Narr. Popish Plot (1680) 49 She heard the said Lawton was a *Priest-taker.

1681 Dryden Spanish Friar iii. iii. 36 A *Priest-trap at their door to lay, For holy Vermin that in houses prey.

1688 Exped. Prince of Orange in Select. fr. Harl. Misc. (1793) 471 The prince commanded Dr. Burnet to order the *priest-vicars of the cathedral, not to pray for the prince of Wales. 1837–8 Act 1 & 2 Vict. c. 106 §39 Any spiritual person, being Prebendary, Canon, Priest Vicar, Vicar Choral, or Minor Canon in any Cathedral or Collegiate Church. 1901 Crockford's Cler. Direct. p. lvii, Exeter... Priest-Vicars, a Corporation.

1895 Gladstone in 19th Cent. Dec. 1074 The recovery of this race..is by a *Priest-Victim foreshadowed in ancient predictions.

▪ II. priest, v.
    (priːst)
    [f. prec. n.]
    1. intr. To exercise the ministry or functions of a priest. Also to priest it. ? Obs.

c 1400 Apol. Loll. 34 Prestis þat prestun wel be þei hade worþi dowble honor. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) I. 158 Courters become prestes nought knowynge but the dyce; They preste not for god, but for a benefyce. 1642 T. Goodwin Christ set forth 120 Christ had not been an High-Priest, if he had not gone to heaven, and Priested it there too (as I may so speak).

    2. trans. To make (any one) a priest; to ordain to the priesthood, admit to priest's orders.

1504 Bury Wills (Camden) 97 Tyll he be of lawfull age to be prystyd. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 309 Thow wes prestyt, and ordanit be Sathan For to be borne to do thy kin defame. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 285 One Stephen was made Pope, who..doth first unpriest, and afterwardes newpriest agayne all such as Const. before him had priested. 1647 Trapp Comm. Phil. i. 1 And yet how eager were our late factours for Rome to have priested us all. 1823 Bp. J. Jebb in Forster Life App. 721 Deacons seeking to be priested, must exhibit their letters of orders. 1896 J. H. Wylie Hist. Eng. Hen. IV, III. 394 John was only in deacon's orders, but he was priested by Cardinal Brogny.

    † 3. To bless as a priest: see priested below.
    Hence ˈpriested ppl. a., (a) ordained to the priesthood; † (b) blessed by a priest (quot. 1603); ˈpriesting vbl. n., (a) the function of a priest, priestly ministration; (b) ordination to the priesthood.

1550 Crowley Inform. & Petit. 2 For lyk causes do our ministers..applye themselues to priestyng, because they lyke wel the ydelnes of the lyfe. 1603 Harsnet Pop. Impost. 80 To have a precious payre of priested gloves..[such] as they may use against any Sparrow-blasting or Sprite-blasting of the Devil. 1609 Bp. W. Barlow Answ. Nameless Cath. 123 Had She not relied too much vpon the Priested sort, her End had not beene so sudden nor vnkinde. 1641 Milton Prel. Episc. 24 Bearing the image of God according to his ruling, and of Christ according to his priesting. 1891 S. Mostyn Curatica ix, It was the anniversary..of my ordination, and the day of my priesting. 1916 Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) v. 221 A priested peasant, with a brother a policeman in Dublin and a brother a potboy in Moycullen.

Oxford English Dictionary