churchwarden

[ church-wawr-dn ]

/ ˈtʃɜrtʃˌwɔr dn /

noun

Anglican Church. a lay officer who looks after the secular affairs of the church, and who, in England, is the legal representative of the parish.

Episcopal Church. a lay church officer who, with other members of the vestry, is in charge of the temporal management of the parish.

a long-stemmed clay pipe for smoking.

Nearby words

Origin of churchwarden

1400–50; late Middle English chirche wardeyn

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for churchwarden

Another, with sarcastic wit, said, "Moses looks like some churchwarden who would have to be careful how he ate his soup."
The Parish Clerk (1907)|Peter Hampson Ditchfield
Mrs. Churchwarden Smith would have considered her opinion triumphantly vindicated.
The Following of the Star|Florence L. Barclay
At the same instant the people's churchwarden rose, and both advanced upon Joe Gander from opposite sides of the church.
A Book of Ghosts|Sabine Baring-Gould
If I might be so bold as to give my advice, I would have it put in a basket, and sent out and laid at the churchwarden's door.
The World's Greatest Books, Vol IV.|Editors: Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton

There had been no churchwarden in the parish for the last ten years, nor, it is believed, for a much longer period.
British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIII|Various

British Dictionary definitions for churchwarden

churchwarden

/ (ˌtʃɜːtʃˈwɔːdən) /

noun

Church of England Episcopal Church one of two assistants of a parish priest who administer the secular affairs of the church

a long-stemmed tobacco pipe made of clay

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012