clergyman

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cler·gy·man

(klûr′jē-mən)

A man who is a member of the clergy.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

clergyman

(ˈklɜːdʒɪmən)

n, pl -men

(Ecclesiastical Terms) a member of the clergy. Gender-neutral form: vicar or priest

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cler•gy•man

(ˈklɜr dʒi mən)

n., pl. -men.

a member of the clergy.

[1570–80]

usage: See -man.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

clergyman - a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church

man of the cloth, reverend

clergy - in Christianity, clergymen collectively (as distinguished from the laity)

spiritual leader - a leader in religious or sacred affairs

acolyte - someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches

anagnost - a cleric in the minor orders of the Eastern Orthodox Church who reads the lessons aloud in the liturgy (analogous to the lector in the Roman Catholic Church)

archdeacon - (Anglican Church) an ecclesiastical dignitary usually ranking just below a bishop

chaplain - a clergyman ministering to some institution

churchman, cleric, ecclesiastic, divine - a clergyman or other person in religious orders

curate, minister, minister of religion, parson, pastor, rector - a person authorized to conduct religious worship; "clergymen are usually called ministers in Protestant churches"

deacon - a cleric ranking just below a priest in Christian churches; one of the Holy Orders

domine, dominee, dominie, dominus - a clergyman; especially a settled minister or parson

ostiarius, ostiary, doorkeeper - the lowest of the minor Holy Orders in the unreformed Western Church but now suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church

lector, reader - someone who reads the lessons in a church service; someone ordained in a minor order of the Roman Catholic Church

officiant - a clergyman who officiates at a religious ceremony or service

ordinand - a person being ordained

ordinary - a clergyman appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death

postulator - (Roman Catholic Church) someone who proposes or pleads for a candidate for beatification or canonization

preacher, preacher man, sermoniser, sermonizer - someone whose occupation is preaching the gospel

priest - a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders

shepherd - a clergyman who watches over a group of people

subdeacon - a clergyman an order below deacon; one of the Holy Orders in the unreformed western Christian church and the eastern Catholic Churches but now suppressed in the Roman Catholic Church

vicar - (Church of England) a clergyman appointed to act as priest of a parish

vicar - (Episcopal Church) a clergyman in charge of a chapel

layman, layperson, secular - someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person

clergyman

noun minister, priest, vicar, parson, reverend (informal), rabbi, pastor, chaplain, cleric, rector, curate, father, churchman, padre, man of God, man of the cloth, divine The crowds were protesting against a local clergyman being banned from preaching.

Quotations
"The clergyman is expected to be a kind of human Sunday" [Samuel Butler The Way of All Flesh]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

clergyman

noun

A person ordained for service in a Christian church:

churchman, churchwoman, clergywoman, cleric, clerical, clerk, divine, ecclesiastic, minister, parson, preacher.

Informal: reverend.

Translations

كاهِن، قِس

duchovníkněz

gejstligpræst

Geistliche Geistlicher

αβάς κληρικός

clérigo eclesiástico

abbé clergyman curé ecclésiastique prêtre

lelkészpap

prestur, klerkur

ecclesiastico pastore anglicano sacerdote

geistlig prest

papaz rahip

牧师

clergyman

[ˈklɜːdʒɪmən] N (clergymen (pl)) → clérigo m; (Anglican) → pastor m anglicano; (Protestant) → pastor m protestante

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

clergyman

[ˈklɜː^rdʒimən] n → ecclésiastique m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

clergyman

n pl <-men> → Geistliche(r) m, → Pastor m, → Pfarrer m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

clergyman

[ˈklɜːdʒɪmən] n (-men (pl)) → ecclesiastico

clergy

(ˈkləːdʒi) noun

the ministers, priests etc of the Christian religion. the clergy of the Church of England.

ˈclergyman noun

one of the clergy; a priest, minister etc.

clergyman

n. clérigo.

References in classic literature ?

what necessary things I had provided for them, and how they were distributed, which they were very sensible of, and very thankful for, I began to talk to them of the scandalous life they led, and gave them a full account of the notice the clergyman had taken of it; and arguing how unchristian and irreligious a life it was, I first asked them if they were married men or bachelors?

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"I used often to wish I had been something else than a clergyman," he said to Lydgate, "but perhaps it will be better to try and make as good a clergyman out of myself as I can.

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Suddenly a large old carriage drove up, and a large old lady sat in it: she looked at the little girl, felt compassion for her, and then said to the clergyman:

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I have seen the clergyman of the parish, who takes an interest in the case--"

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The clergyman's shutters fitted well, and the clergyman's curtains were closely drawn.

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Before three months had passed, Rose Fleming and Harry Maylie were married in the village church which was henceforth to be the scene of the young clergyman's labours; on the same day they entered into possession of their new and happy home.

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Tulliver manifested an unusual discretion, because she had recently had evidence that the going to school to a clergyman was a sore point with Tom, who looked at it as very much on a par with going to school to a constable.

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The first glimpse of the clergyman's figure was the signal for the bell to cease its summons.

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The voice which had called her attention was that of the reverend and famous John Wilson, the eldest clergyman of Boston, a great scholar, like most of his contemporaries in the profession, and withal a man of kind and genial spirit.

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Then, of course, I might refashion life and character entirely after my own liking; I might select the most unexceptionable type of clergyman and put my own admirable opinions into his mouth on all occasions.

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"Ordained!" said Miss Crawford; "what, are you to be a clergyman?"

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The reason was that the clergyman who did duty at Knowlesbury church, in the year eighteen hundred and three (when, according to his birth certificate, his father and mother OUGHT to have been married), was alive still when he took possession of the property in the New Year of eighteen hundred and twenty-seven.