parson

American  

[pahr-suhn] / ˈpɑr sən /

noun

• parsons
  plural

1. a member of the clergy, especially a Protestant minister; pastor; rector.

2. the holder or incumbent of a parochial benefice, especially an Anglican.

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parson British  

/ ˈpɑːsən /

noun

1. a parish priest in the Church of England, formerly applied only to those who held ecclesiastical benefices

2. any clergyman

3. a nonconformist minister

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• parsonic
  adjective
• parsonical
  adjective
• parsonish
  adjective
• parsonlike
  adjective
• parsonically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• parsons
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of parson

1200–50; Middle English persone < Medieval Latin persōna parish priest, Latin: personage. See person

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Explanation

Use the noun parson to describe a member of the clergy — a person with the authority to lead worship in a church or perform religious rites such as weddings and christenings. Historically, parson has been what Anglican church members call their minister or priest, but the term can also be used as a generic term for "clergy member." You might ask a parson to preside at your wedding, or to officiate at your grandmother's funeral, for example. Experts are uncertain about the exact origins of parson, although one theory says it's a shortened form of the Latin persona ecclesiae, "person of the church."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

parson parsons

Roy is mirrored in turn by the later appearance of another parson, Preston Teagardin, played by Robert Pattinson with the same lip-smacking comic flamboyance he recently brought to “The King.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2020

In chapter 36, Lucy arrives at the home of a priggish parson, whose wife is desperately ill with typhoid.

From Washington Post ● May 26, 2020

Despite there being two servants to look after the modestly sized parsonage and one modestly sized parson, Emily made a case for needing to be onsite as an extra housekeeper.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 21, 2018

The sympathetic parson will reassure him, we think, but that’s not what happens.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2018

One improbable-seeming person who turned his mind to the matter was a country parson named John Michell, who resided in the lonely Yorkshire village of Thornhill.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Ah, say the parsons, then why not “disclose” any AI use?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

The parsons of the press corps then moved en masse to get a comment from the Journal, which in this case meant me.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Here are striding parsons, botanising antiquarians, madmen, painters and poets.

From Economist ● Nov. 13, 2014

Runcie admits that his Scottish engineer father had a "profound distrust of parsons."

From Time Magazine Archive

In nineteenth-century England, everyone from country parsons to teenage girls collected butterflies, flowers, even stuffed birds and fossil bones.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

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