Parson

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpɑːs(ə)n/

Definitions

1. A member of the Christian clergy who holds the position of priest or minister in charge of a parish church
2. A religious official responsible for conducting services and providing spiritual leadership to a specific congregation in a local community
3. A cleric who is in charge of a local church and delivers religious services while guiding the spiritual life of the community is referred to as a specific type of minister

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "parson" is that it is the same word as "person." In Latin, "persona" meant a mask worn by an actor, and later the role or character that mask represented, and only afterwards the individual human being. Medieval Latin used "persona" for an ecclesiastical office-holder, a man who held a church benefice in his own right, and that sense passed into Old French as "persone" and into Middle English as "persoun." Over time the spelling and sound of the clerical sense drifted apart from the general one, leaving two forms that share a single origin. That split makes "parson" and "person" doublets: words descended from the same source by separate routes. "Person" kept the broad sense of an individual human, while "parson" narrowed to the priest or minister in charge of a parish church. The role itself is what gave the word its specialised meaning, so a parson was in effect the person who embodied the parish.

Synonyms: clergyman, minister, priest, pastor

Antonyms: layperson, nonclergyman