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sacristan

sacristan

1 9.9
A person in a church who looks after the altar and holy objects
  • noun
  • /ˈsækrɪstən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : sacristán
  • Following the religious ceremony, the priest or sacristan fills out small forms with the basic information (that is, names of parents, godparents, godchild, date, name of priest).
  • served as a sacristan

Examples

  • The sacristan prepared the altar before the morning service, ensuring everything was in place.

  • Others serve as readers, altar servers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, cantors, musicians, and sacristans.

    Blog text (4)
  • As a child, I served as sacristan to my father.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • That was not my own parish, and I continued to be active in it, eventually serving as the sacristan of my own parish church.

    Academic text (2014)
  • As chapel sacristan, Lavin had "time to talk to God," he once said.

    Blog text (20)
  • The sacristan rushed to get Einhard.

    Academic text (2018)
  • One of the sacristans, a tall, bony man with one ear, blocked her way.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • I want these doors locked and sealed until the Pope has proclaimed our Marie-Bernard blessed, Mother Forestier instructed the sacristan.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • He was just as connected to another St. Thomas landmark, the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas—as a student, he served as its sacristan, and as a priest, he celebrated Mass there almost daily.

    Blog text (20)
  • His great-grandfather, Aelfred Westou, was a sacristan of Durham who had traveled all over Northumbria gathering saints' relics in the eleventh century.

    Academic text (2018)

Synonyms

sexton
vssacristan
5 9.2

A church worker who looks after the building and rings the bell

focuses mainly on indoor sacred items rather than building maintenance
sacrist
vssacristan
  • Specialized
9.9

A person who cares for the cups, special clothes, and other things used in church

is responsible for the sacristy and general care of sacred objects
church officer
vssacristan
4.4

A person who has an official job in a church and helps lead it

is a practical caretaker role focused on sacred object care not authority

How Responsible

deacon
9 7.2
churchwarden
  • UK
1 9.3
sacristan
  • Specialized
1 9.9
ostiary
  • Archaic
9.9
usher
60 3.7

Surface Forms

sacristan singular
sacristans plural

Morphology

sacristan = sacristy (transparent) = sacristy + an

The word is clearly formed from the place 'sacristy' with an agentive suffix '-an' meaning a person associated with that place.

Etymology

The word sacristan comes from the Latin root sacr- meaning 'holy', the same root you see in sacred and sacristy. So a sacristan is literally the person who cares for the church's holy things, like the special clothes, cups and candles used in services.