a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, specif a clergyman ranking below a bishop and above a deacon, e.g. in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches
It was manifest to me that there was something in the Roman Catholic religion which made the priests very dear to the people — Trollope
priesthood noun
priestliness noun
priestly adj
[Old English prēost, modification of late Latin presbyter, from Greek presbyteros: see presbyter]