parson

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: par=son

CIDE DICTIONARY

parson, n. [OE. persone person, parson, OF. persone, F. personne person, LL. persona (sc. ecclesiae), fr. L. persona a person. See Person.].

•  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]
•  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."  [1913 Webster]

Parson bird (Zoöl.), a New Zealand bird (Prosthemadera Novæseelandiæ) 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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

parson, n.
1 a rector.
2 a vicar or any beneficed member of the clergy.
3 colloq. any (esp. Protestant) member of the clergy.

Idiom

parson's nose the piece of fatty flesh at the rump of a fowl.

Derivative

parsonical adj.

Etymology

ME person(e), parson f. OF persone f. L persona PERSON (in med.L rector)

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

parson

Clergy

N clergy, clericals, ministry, priesthood, presbytery, the cloth, the desk, clergyman, divine, ecclesiastic, churchman, priest, presbyter, hierophant, pastor, shepherd, minister, father, father in Christ, padre, abbe, cure, patriarch, reverend, black coat, confessor, dignitaries of the church, ecclesiarch, hierarch, ebdomarius, eminence, reverence, elder, primate, metropolitan, archbishop, bishop, prelate, diocesan, suffragan, dean, subdean, archdeacon, prebendary, canon, rural dean, rector, parson, vicar, perpetual curate, residentiary, beneficiary, incumbent, chaplain, curate, deacon, deaconess, preacher, reader, lecturer, capitular, missionary, propagandist, Jesuit, revivalist, field preacher, churchwarden, sidesman, clerk, precentor, choir, almoner, suisse, verger, beadle, sexton, sacristan, acolyth, acolothyst, acolyte, altar boy, chorister, Pope, Papa, pontiff, high priest, cardinal, ancient flamen, flamen, confessor, penitentiary, spiritual director, cenobite, conventual, abbot, prior, monk, friar, lay brother, beadsman, mendicant, pilgrim, palmer, canon regular, canon secular, Franciscan, Friars minor, Minorites, Observant, Capuchin, Dominican, Carmelite, Augustinian, Gilbertine, Austin Friars, Black Friars, White Friars, Gray Friars, Crossed Friars, Crutched Friars, Bonhomme, Carthusian, Benedictine, Cistercian, Trappist, Cluniac, Premonstatensian, Maturine, Templar, Hospitaler, Bernardine, Lorettine, pillarist, stylite, abbess, prioress, canoness, religieuse, nun, novice, postulant, prophet, priest, high priest, Levite, Rabbi, Rabbin, Rebbe, scribe, mullah, muezzin, ayatollah, ulema, imaum, imam, sheik, sufi, kahin, kassis, mufti, hadji, dervish, fakir, faquir, brahmin, guru, kaziaskier, poonghie, sanyasi, druid, bonze, santon, abdal, Lama, talapoin, caloyer, the Reverend, the very Reverend, the Right Reverend, ordained, in orders, called to the ministry.