Recent Examples on the WebThe other is her violent stepfather, who, in this version, is also the church’s parson (Steven Pasquale).—Jesse Green, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2024 His living room included an antique Japanese screen hanging on a white wall above a leather banquette with pillow sable heads mounted on silver pedestals and a parsons table.—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 6 Dec. 2023 The stranger asked to see Patrick, but after he was informed that the parson was ill in bed, the encounter took an unsettling turn.—V.m. Braganza, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023 Her father, Patrick Brontë, was the parson of the local parish.—V.m. Braganza, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Oct. 2023 Around 1914, Peter and Laurie Kerr commissioned Portland architect Ellis F. Lawrence, who was the first dean of the University of Oregon’s architecture department, to design a new home based on a Scottish country parson’s manse.—Jeastman, oregonlive, 26 Jan. 2023 Peacock, talented, attractive, amatory, and a good friend to the bohemian Shelley circle, married, rather surprisingly, a Welsh parson’s daughter, Jane Gryffydh, who was ill at ease in London and developed life-long mental illness after the death of one of her children.—Hermione Lee, The New York Review of Books, 17 Nov. 2020 Charles Darwin was a companion to Captain FitzRoy of the Beagle with time to see the world before planning to return and become a parson.—Catherine Hoffman, Discover Magazine, 27 Feb. 2020 The eastern parson spider, named for the way the white patch on its black abdomen resembles a clerical collar.—Adam Roy, Outside Online, 26 Oct. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'parson.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English persone, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin persona, literally, person, from Latin
Middle English persone "parson," from early French persone (same meaning), from Latin persona, literally, "person"; so called because the parson was the legal "person" representing the church
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