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parsonage

parsonage

5 9.3
A house a church gives to its priest or minister to live in
  • noun
  • /ˈpɑr.sən.ɪdʒ/
translation icon : parroquia
  • In a country parsonage up on Murray's Hill, there's the Reverend Lispenard who knows our story.

Examples

  • The house across the street, that's the parsonage.

  • As soon as a new minister moved into the parsonage, Palmberg was there introducing himself.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • We'll drive to the parsonage.

  • Originally, we are told, he came from a parsonage.

    Academic text (2000)
  • At the parsonage, when Lettie saw what was for dinner, she was overwhelmed.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Since you can't remain here, the reverend and I would be pleased to have you stay at the parsonage until everything is resolved.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The preacher worked in a small, shabby parsonage, whose parson had the look of a man to whom every penny counted.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The Bronte children were transformed by nightly reading and discussion around the dining room table at the Haworth Parsonage.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Somewhere around 1780, the Peaks donated land for the Dutch Reformed Church, the burial ground, a parsonage, and a carriage shed.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The house would be the parsonage for the church they were building on the adjacent land.

Synonyms

rectory
vsparsonage
20 7.7

A house provided by a church for its leader

has identical meaning but is an alternative traditional term
manse
vsparsonage
  • UK
4 9.9

A house where a church minister lives, often large or impressive

refers to the church-provided house without implying grandeur
vicarage
vsparsonage
  • UK
2 8.8

A house that a church gives to its priest

has identical meaning but is an alternative traditional term

How Big

mansion
327 3.4
manor
67 5.8
house
1.0
parsonage
5 9.3
cottage
171 1.0

Surface Forms

parsonage singular
parsonages plural

Morphology

parsonage = parson (semi-transparent) = parson + age

The word is built from 'parson' plus the place-associated suffix '-age', but the resulting meaning is somewhat lexicalized as a church-provided residence.

Etymology

The word parsonage comes from parson, a church person like a priest, and the ending -age, which turns a word into a place or thing. So a parsonage is the house a church gives to its parson.