Priest

6 definitions found

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

  Presbyter \Pres"by*ter\, n. [L. an elder, fr. Gr. ?. See
     {Priest}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. An elder in the early Christian church. See 2d Citation
        under {Bishop}, n., 1.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. (Ch. of Eng. & Prot. Epis. Ch.) One ordained to the second
        order in the ministry; -- called also {priest}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I rather term the one sort presbyter than priest.
                                                    --Hooker.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              New presbyter is but old priest writ large.
                                                    --Milton.
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     3. (Presbyterian Ch.) A member of a presbytery whether lay or
        clerical.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A Presbyterian. [Obs.] --Hudibras.
        [1913 Webster]

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

  Priest \Priest\, n. [OE. prest, preost, AS. pre['o]st, fr. L.
     presbyter, Gr. ? elder, older, n., an elder, compar. of ? an
     old man, the first syllable of which is probably akin to L.
     pristinus. Cf. {Pristine}, {Presbyter}.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. (Christian Church) A presbyter elder; a minister;
        specifically:
        (a) (R. C. Ch. & Gr. Ch.) One who is authorized to
            consecrate the host and to say Mass; but especially,
            one of the lowest order possessing this power.
            --Murdock.
        (b) (Ch. of Eng. & Prot. Epis. Ch.) A presbyter; one who
            belongs to the intermediate order between bishop and
            deacon. He is authorized to perform all ministerial
            services except those of ordination and confirmation.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     2. One who officiates at the altar, or performs the rites of
        sacrifice; one who acts as a mediator between men and the
        divinity or the gods in any form of religion; as, Buddhist
        priests. "The priests of Dagon." --1 Sam. v. 5.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Then the priest of Jupiter . . . brought oxen and
              garlands . . . and would have done sacrifice with
              the people. --Acts xiv. 13.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Every priest taken from among men is ordained for
              men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer
              both gifts and sacrifices for sins.   --Heb. v. 1.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: In the New Testament presbyters are not called priests;
           but Christ is designated as a priest, and as a high
           priest, and all Christians are designated priests.
           [1913 Webster]

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

  Priest \Priest\, v. t.
     To ordain as priest.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  priest
       n 1: a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to
            perform or administer various religious rites; one of
            the Holy Orders
       2: a spiritual leader in a non-Christian religion [syn: {non-Christian
          priest}]

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

  74 Moby Thesaurus words for "priest":
     Aaronic priesthood, Levite, Melchizedek priesthood, Seventy, abbe,
     abbess, abbot, acolyte, acolytus, apostle, baal kore, bishop,
     cantor, cassock, celibataire, celibate, chief rabbi, churchman,
     churchwoman, clergyman, clergywoman, cleric, confessor, curate,
     cure, deacon, diaconus, divine, doorkeeper, ecclesiastic, elder,
     evangelist, exorcist, exorcista, father, father confessor,
     father in Christ, gallach, high priest, holy man, holy orders,
     kohen, lector, major orders, man of God, minor orders, misogamist,
     misogynist, missionary, monastic, monk, mother, nun, ostiarius,
     padre, parish priest, patriarch, penitentiary, preacher, presbyter,
     rabbi, rabbin, reader, reverend, scribe, servant of God, single,
     spiritual director, spiritual father, subdeacon, subdiaconus,
     teacher, unmarried, vicar
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Priest
     The Heb. kohen, Gr. hierus, Lat. sacerdos, always denote one who
     offers sacrifices.
     
       At first every man was his own priest, and presented his own
     sacrifices before God. Afterwards that office devolved on the
     head of the family, as in the cases of Noah (Gen. 8:20), Abraham
     (12:7; 13:4), Isaac (26:25), Jacob (31:54), and Job (Job 1:5).
     
       The name first occurs as applied to Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18).
     Under the Levitical arrangements the office of the priesthood
     was limited to the tribe of Levi, and to only one family of that
     tribe, the family of Aaron. Certain laws respecting the
     qualifications of priests are given in Lev. 21:16-23. There are
     ordinances also regarding the priests' dress (Ex. 28:40-43) and
     the manner of their consecration to the office (29:1-37).
     
       Their duties were manifold (Ex. 27:20, 21; 29:38-44; Lev.
     6:12; 10:11; 24:8; Num. 10:1-10; Deut. 17:8-13; 33:10; Mal.
     2:7). They represented the people before God, and offered the
     various sacrifices prescribed in the law.
     
       In the time of David the priests were divided into twenty-four
     courses or classes (1 Chr. 24:7-18). This number was retained
     after the Captivity (Ezra 2:36-39; Neh. 7:39-42).
     
       "The priests were not distributed over the country, but lived
     together in certain cities [forty-eight in number, of which six
     were cities of refuge, q.v.], which had been assigned to their
     use. From thence they went up by turns to minister in the temple
     at Jerusalem. Thus the religious instruction of the people in
     the country generally was left to the heads of families, until
     the establishment of synagogues, an event which did not take
     place till the return from the Captivity, and which was the main
     source of the freedom from idolatry that became as marked a
     feature of the Jewish people thenceforward as its practice had
     been hitherto their great national sin."
     
       The whole priestly system of the Jews was typical. It was a
     shadow of which the body is Christ. The priests all prefigured
     the great Priest who offered "one sacrifice for sins" "once for
     all" (Heb. 10:10, 12). There is now no human priesthood. (See
     Epistle to the Hebrews throughout.) The term "priest" is indeed
     applied to believers (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6), but in these cases
     it implies no sacerdotal functions. All true believers are now
     "kings and priests unto God." As priests they have free access
     into the holiest of all, and offer up the sacrifices of praise
     and thanksgiving, and the sacrifices of grateful service from
     day to day.