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presbyter

[ prez-bi-ter, pres- ]

noun

  1. (in the early Christian church) an office bearer who exercised teaching, priestly, and administrative functions.
  2. (in hierarchical churches) a priest.
  3. an elder in a Presbyterian church.


presbyter

/ ˈprɛzbɪtə /

noun

    1. an elder of a congregation in the early Christian Church
    2. (in some Churches having episcopal politics) an official who is subordinate to a bishop and has administrative, teaching, and sacerdotal functions
  1. (in some hierarchical Churches) another name for priest
  2. in the Presbyterian Church
    1. a teaching elder
    2. a ruling elder
“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


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Other Words From

  • pres·byt·er·al [prez-, bit, -er-, uh, l, pres-], adjective
  • non·presby·ter noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of presbyter1

1590–1600; < Late Latin, noun use of the adj.: older < Greek presbýteros, equivalent to présby ( s ) old + -teros comparative suffix
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Word History and Origins

Origin of presbyter1

C16: from Late Latin, from Greek presbuteros an older man, from presbus old man
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Example Sentences

The larger cubiculum has two tufa seats at the side, and one more elevated for the presiding presbyter.

The altar, probably a small movable one of wood, if any at all, must have stood before the presbyter.

There was no priest (cohen); the presbyter was the "elder," nothing more.

Twelve miles off lived a presbyter, with whom, in mesmerist phraseology, he was en rapport.

If they were written by a writer named John, it was probably John the Presbyter, who lived in the second century.

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