Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
seminarist

seminarist

8.8
A student who studies at a religious school to become a Catholic priest
  • noun
  • /ˈsɛmɪnərɪst/
translation icon : seminarista
  • The seminarist participated actively in discussions about moral theology during his studies.

Examples

  • Pablo notices that the seminarists enjoy better facilities at the institute than his students and that the schoolgirls must yield the right of way to their male counterparts in the halls and stairwells so as not to disturb them with temptation.

    Academic text (1997)

  • The seminarist from the Kremlin who persecuted clericalists with relentless fury was not averse to the ancient symbol, torn from its source, serving secular goals with a meaning adapted to the needs of the times.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • Many seminarists attend retreats to deepen their spiritual understanding and connection to their faith.

  • After years of study, the seminarist was finally ordained as a priest in a beautiful ceremony.

Synonyms

seminarian
vsseminarist
7 8.1

A student at a school that trains people to be priests

has the same meaning but differs only in word form

How Expert

theologian
47 7.5
theologist
1 9.0
seminarist
8.8
layperson
14 4.9

Surface Forms

seminarist singular
seminarists plural

Morphology

seminarist = seminary (semi-transparent) = seminar + ist

Meaning 'a person associated with a seminary' is clear, but form differs from the visible root ('seminar' vs 'seminary') and 'seminarian' is the more familiar variant, which may cause slight confusion for learners.

Etymology

Seminarist comes from seminary, a word that originally meant a 'seed bed' and is related to semen 'seed'. So a seminarist is like a seed being grown there — a student trained and prepared for the priesthood.