crosier

American  

[kroh-zher] / ˈkroʊ ʒər /

Or crozier

noun

1. a ceremonial staff carried by a bishop or an abbot, hooked at one end like a shepherd's crook.

2. Botany. the circinate young frond of a fern.

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crosier British  

/ ˈkrəʊʒə /

noun

1. a staff surmounted by a crook or cross, carried by bishops as a symbol of pastoral office

2. the tip of a young plant, esp a fern frond, that is coiled into a hook

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Other Word Forms

• crosiered adjective

Etymology

Origin of crosier

1350–1400; short for crosier-staff; Middle English crosier staff-bearer < Middle French; replacing Middle English crocer < Anglo-French. See crosse, -er ²

Example Sentences

Benedict has been laying in state without any papal regalia, such as a crosier, a silver staff with a crucifix, or a pallium, a band of cloth worn around the neck worn by archdiocesan bishops.

From Reuters • Jan. 3, 2023

A miter and crosier nestle in a back niche that echoes the Scuola degli Schiavoni’s own architecture.

From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2022

He withdraws a bent cross crosier from a nearby cupboard and lays it next to the original on which it was modelled.

From The Guardian • Sep. 10, 2016

How, if at all, the crosier will get to the pope isn’t known.

From Washington Times • Jul. 20, 2015

He was a silk-haired senior, with his cope and crosier, alb and ring —urbane, ecclesiastical, knowing the spiritual power.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White