Abbe

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /æˈbeɪ/

Definitions

1. A member of the French secular clergy, especially one without a specific pastoral assignment
2. A clerical individual in France, commonly lacking a defined parish role, who is often from the secular clergy
3. A clergyman in France from the secular clergy who typically does not serve a parish or specific pastoral role

Etymology: The word arrived in English without losing its French accent. "Abbé" is an unadapted borrowing from French, where it meant "abbot," and the French word itself came from Latin "abbās," a term taken from Aramaic meaning "father." English already had its own version of the same word: "abbot," which came into Old English from the same Latin source by a different route. The two are doublets, one absorbed early into the native language and the other borrowed later from French. The two words ended up with very different jobs. "Abbot" stayed the title of the head of a monastery, while "abbé" was used in French for a priest who was not bound to a monastic order, and English speakers borrowed it to name that figure. The accent mark is the only sign of the French origin, and writers who drop it, leaving "abbe," are simply using an alternative spelling of the same word.

Synonyms: abbot