sacristan
Americannoun
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Also called sacrist. an official in charge of the sacred vessels, vestments, etc., of a church or a religious house.
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a sexton.
noun
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a person who has charge of the contents of a church, esp the sacred vessels, vestments, etc
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a less common word for sexton
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of sacristan
1325–75; Middle English < Medieval Latin sacristānus, equivalent to sacrist ( a ) custodian of sacred objects + -ānus -an
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.
See Examples For:
Originally from Venezuela, he’s lived in the neighborhood with his family for a decade and often serves as a sacristan and altar server.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
The Algeciras town hall said the sacristan was named Diego Valencia and identified the wounded priest as Antonio Rodríguez.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2023
In 1995, Israel honoured the parish's wartime pastor, Father Antonio Dressino, and its lay sacristan, Pietro Lestini, as being Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jews.
From Reuters ● May 4, 2022
Vincent Loques, 45, a father-of-two and sacristan of the Notre Dame basilica in Nice.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2020
“Hist!” warned John, stepping quickly toward the light of the lantern held by the sacristan.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
Surfers, sitting on the edge of the break, were like "Phrygian sacristans."
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2018
Black people - the free and enslaved - worshipped alongside whites in Bethlehem and Nazareth, where they were sacristans or held other church duties and shared the Moravians’ regimented lifestyle.
From Washington Times ● May 23, 2015
Are Spain's majestic cathedrals filled with "gabbling priests, rowdy acolytes, grubby vestments, candles drunkenly reeling and raining grease on all around, flowers faded or dead, statues thick with dust, sacristans spitting on the floor?"
From Time Magazine Archive
The bishop-banker grants subsidies to needy dioceses and disburses the money for the salaries of Vatican employees, from cardinals on down to sacristans.
From Time Magazine Archive
The sacristans looked at him with that rudeness characteristic of people who are in the habit of being ill-treated.
From Friars and Filipinos An Abridged Translation of Dr. Jose Rizal's Tagalog Novel, 'Noli Me Tangere.' by Rizal, José
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.
