Parson

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Parson \Par"son\, n. [OE. persone person, parson, OF. persone,
     F. personne person, LL. persona (sc. ecclesiae), fr. L.
     persona a person. See {Person}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Eng. Eccl. Law) A person who represents a parish in its
        ecclesiastical and corporate capacities; hence, the rector


        or incumbent of a parochial church, who has full
        possession of all the rights thereof, with the cure of
        souls.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Any clergyman having ecclesiastical preferment; one who is
        in orders, or is licensed to preach; a preacher.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He hears the parson pray and preach.  --Longfellow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Parson bird} (Zool.), a New Zealand bird ({Prosthemadera
        Nov[ae]seelandi[ae]}) remarkable for its powers of mimicry
        and its ability to articulate words. Its color is glossy
        black, with a curious tuft of long, curly, white feathers
        on each side of the throat. It is often kept as a cage
        bird.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  parson
       n : a person authorized to conduct religious worship [syn: {curate},
            {minister}, {pastor}, {rector}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  29 Moby Thesaurus words for "parson":
     DD, Doctor of Divinity, Holy Joe, abbe, chaplain, churchman,
     clergyman, cleric, clerical, clerk, curate, cure, divine,
     ecclesiastic, man of God, military chaplain, minister, padre,
     pastor, rector, reverend, servant of God, shepherd, sky pilot,
     supply clergy, supply minister, the Reverend, the very Reverend,
     tonsured cleric
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PARSON, eccl. law. One who has full possession of all the rights of a 
  parochial church. 
       2. He is so called because by his person the church, which is an 
  invisible body, is represented: in England he is himself a body corporate it 
  order to protect and defend the church (which he personates) by a the 
  minority, if required to bring Story on Partn. Sec. 489. 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 
  1217. 398; 5 Com. Dig. 346.