sacristan
Americannoun
-
sacristans
plural
-
Also called sacrist. an official in charge of the sacred vessels, vestments, etc., of a church or a religious house.
-
a sexton.
noun
-
a person who has charge of the contents of a church, esp the sacred vessels, vestments, etc
-
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
José Antonio Conde, a kind of church caretaker called a sacristan, was trying to find the key on a recent evening.
From New York Times ● Jan. 2, 2022
Vincent Loques, 45, a father-of-two and sacristan of the Notre Dame basilica in Nice.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2020
She runs into the church to see if Stephen Carey, the sacristan, would spare her a rag and he gives her some kind of canvas cloth that makes my nose sore.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
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
Three priests among them were released, but the police held fast to several retired military officers, two Cathedral sacristans, some lay brothers.
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
Presently a priest came through the door and leaned over the gallery, followed by two sacristans, one bearing a censer and the other a bell.
From A Woman's Impression of the Philippines by Mary Helen Fee
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.
