parson
noun
par·son ˈpär-sᵊn 
1
: rector
2
: clergyman
especially : a Protestant pastor
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Saturday, indicating in a subsequent statement that an unidentified parson fired between two and four shots from a northbound vehicle, possibly a BMW. 
Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Aug. 2022 At sixty, Øino has a boyish mop and the mild countenance of a country parson. Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 18 July 2022 That man is Miles Lufton, the ambitious son of a parson in early 19th-century England. Sam Sacks, WSJ, 4 Mar. 2022 The most helpless of all beings is a poor parson, of an Evening, in London in Wet Weather—without a carriage. Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New York Review of Books, 14 May 2020 In this 1952 British film, a country parson (Ralph Richardson) with a reputation of caring more for his parishioners than his own family hosts his son (Denholm Elliott) and daughter (Margaret Leighton) for Christmas. Tribune News Service, oregonlive, 6 Dec. 2019 But there’s a hitch: Penelope has been abducted by a romantic rival and needs rescuing, Samuel eventually tells the parson. Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, 28 June 2018 Books had an aura of hierarchy and patriarchy: the parson in his pulpit, the politician at the dispatch box, the professor on the podium, paterfamilias in his armchair. John Sutherland, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2018 In 1903, it was sold to the Congregational Church of New Fairfield and served as the parson’s residence for more than half a century. Susan Hodara, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2017 See More
Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Aug. 2022 At sixty, Øino has a boyish mop and the mild countenance of a country parson. Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 18 July 2022 That man is Miles Lufton, the ambitious son of a parson in early 19th-century England. Sam Sacks, WSJ, 4 Mar. 2022 The most helpless of all beings is a poor parson, of an Evening, in London in Wet Weather—without a carriage. Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New York Review of Books, 14 May 2020 In this 1952 British film, a country parson (Ralph Richardson) with a reputation of caring more for his parishioners than his own family hosts his son (Denholm Elliott) and daughter (Margaret Leighton) for Christmas. Tribune News Service, oregonlive, 6 Dec. 2019 But there’s a hitch: Penelope has been abducted by a romantic rival and needs rescuing, Samuel eventually tells the parson. Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, 28 June 2018 Books had an aura of hierarchy and patriarchy: the parson in his pulpit, the politician at the dispatch box, the professor on the podium, paterfamilias in his armchair. John Sutherland, New York Times, 2 Jan. 2018 In 1903, it was sold to the Congregational Church of New Fairfield and served as the parson’s residence for more than half a century. Susan Hodara, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2017 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English persone, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin persona, literally, person, from Latin
First Known Use
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
parson
noun
par·son ˈpär-sᵊn
: minister entry 1 sense 1
parsons
noun
as in vicars
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- vicars
- clergymen
- churchmen
- pastors
- rectors
- curés
- padres
- deans
- bishops
- abbots
- curates
- abbés
- archbishops
- presbyters
- popes
- shepherds
- deaconesses
- prelates
- diocesans
- friars
- priestesses
- fathers
- clergywomen
- missionaries
- monks
- confessors
- chaplains
- priests
- preachers
- missioners
- mendicants
- archpriests
- divines
- ecclesiastics
- monsignors
- deacons
- revivalists
- religious
- evangelists
- Holy Joes
- oblates
- reverends
- clerics
- clericals
- ministers
- monsignori
- monastics
- clerks
- sky pilots
- missionizers
- clergypersons
- dominies
- high priests
- high priestesses
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- laymen
- lay readers
- laypeople
- lectors
- secular
- seculars