Faith & RitualGreek → English
Priest
/prist/noun
An ordained minister authorised to perform sacred rites.
The Greek roots
πρεσβύτερος
presbýteros
elder, older man
Literally: “elder”
Follow a root:πρεσβύτερος3 words
The story of the word
The earliest churches called their officers elders, πρεσβύτεροι, the comparative of πρέσβυς, old man. Latin took the word whole as presbyter, spoken Latin wore it down to prester, and Old English received it as prēost. Centuries later English borrowed the same Greek word again, unworn, giving presbyter and Presbyterian, so the elder is in the language twice. Greek for old age also produced presbyopia, the long sight of the middle-aged.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → Old English → English
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
presbyterPresbyterianpresbyterypresbyopia
In a sentence
The priest was still in the sacristy when we arrived.
He trained as a priest for two years and then went into teaching.