clergywoman

[klur-jee-woo m-uh n]

See more synonyms for clergywoman on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural cler·gy·wom·en.

a female member of the clergy.
a woman who is an ordained Christian minister.

Origin of clergywoman

clergy(man) + -woman

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for clergywoman

chaplain, cleric, clerical, divine, ecclesiastic, minister, parson, priest, churchwoman, reverend

Examples from the Web for clergywoman

Historical Examples of clergywoman

He resisted but little, for his parish needed a clergywoman sadly.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
She seemed to have been at the inn with the clergywoman, and was telling the tinker-mother the result.
Brothers of Pity and Other Tales of Beasts and Men
Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing

British Dictionary definitions for clergywoman

clergywoman

noun plural -men

a female member of the clergyGender-neutral form: vicar, priest

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

Word Origin and History for clergywoman

1670s, a nun, from clergy + man (n.). Not seriously as "woman pastor" until 1871; in between it was used humorously for "old woman" or "domineering wife of a clergyman." Cf. clergyman.