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Glite Dictionary
thurifer

thurifer

1 9.9
A person who swings a metal container of burning incense during religious services
  • noun
  • /ˈθʊrɪfər/
  • Specialized
: thurífero
  • During the high mass, the thurifer carefully swung the thurible, filling the air with fragrant incense.

Examples

  • The young thurifer practiced her movements for the upcoming Easter service, wanting to perform perfectly.

  • As a dedicated thurifer, he took great pride in his role during the religious ceremonies at the cathedral.

  • I occasionally have nothing on Sunday processions, and on days I serve as the thurifer, I leave the sanctuary empty-handed.

    Blog text (32)

Surface Forms

thurifer singular
thurifers plural

Morphology

thurifer = thurible (opaque) = thur + fer

Formed from rare learned elements ('thur-' for incense and the Latin combining form '-fer' meaning 'bearing'); these elements are obscure and not productive in modern English, so the formation is not transparent to average learners.

Etymology

Thurifer comes from Latin parts thur- meaning 'incense' and -fer meaning 'to carry', the same 'fer' you see in transfer which means 'to carry across'. So a thurifer is literally an 'incense-carrier', which explains why this person walks and swings the censer during church services.