parsonage
Americannoun
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the residence of a member of the clergy, as provided by the parish or church.
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English Ecclesiastical Law. the benefice of a parson.
noun
Etymology
Origin of parsonage
1250–1300; Middle English personage < Anglo-French, equivalent to Medieval Latin persōnāticum benefice. See parson, -age
Explanation
Parsonage is a somewhat old-fashioned term for the housing a church provides to its clergy. The priest of a church in the English countryside might live in a nearby parsonage. Parsonage literally means "house for a parson," and a parson is the member of the clergy, mainly in the British Anglican church, although Lutherans often use this terminology too. Other names for a parsonage include rectory, clergy house, or vicarage. One of the perks of being a priest in a small, rural church would be getting to live in a charming parsonage.
Vocabulary lists containing parsonage
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Until very recently, so did the British architect Ben Pentreath, who with his husband, plantsman Charlie McCormick, transformed a parsonage garden in the Bride Valley into an Instagram sensation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
The parsonage between the village and the moors where the Brontes lived with their clergyman father and brother, Branwell, is now a museum dedicated to their memory.
From Barron's • Feb. 28, 2026
She also went to his church and the youth club he ran from the parsonage where he lived in Reigate.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
The prosecution also said she benefited from her use of a San Francisco parsonage, which was renovated through a church-development fund, as a second residence.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 22, 2023
It is only fifteen miles from Zundert, but it is still wrenching for Vincent to leave the parsonage, and Theo, and his sisters, his parents—all he has ever known.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
