presbyter

noun

Definition of presbyternext
as in bishop

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of presbyter This would be the case also for an apostate, heretic, schismatic bishop, presbyter, or deacon. — Fr. Goran Jovicic, National Review, 13 June 2021 Before coming to Birmingham, Webster had served 18 years as executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Sierra Blanca in southern New Mexico. — Greg Garrison, AL.com, 19 July 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for presbyter
  1. bishop
  2. prelate
  3. abbot
  4. archbishop
  5. dean
  6. pastor
  7. deaconess
  8. diocesan
Noun
  • Man of books and learning Several of the videos show Athanasius of Alexandria, a fourth-century bishop and theologian traditionally considered one of the church fathers.
    — Denva Gallant, The Conversation, 8 July 2026
  • Juan José Gerardi Conedera (born December 27, 1922, Guatemala City, Guatemala—killed April 26, 1998, Guatemala City) was a Guatemalan Roman Catholic bishop and human rights activist.
    — Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 July 2026
Definition of bishop
Noun
  • The group was founded in 1970 in Switzerland by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a French prelate, but five years later was officially suppressed by the Bishop of Fribourg.
    — Christopher Lamb, CNN Money, 30 June 2026
  • In roughly 33 hours over the course of two days, the diverse group of international prelates elected Prevost on the fourth ballot.
    — Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 6 May 2026
Definition of prelate
Noun
  • The court found that Shi used his positions, including as the temple abbot, to illegally embezzle more than $19 million alone or in conspiracy with others, between 2003 and 2025, CCTV reported.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2026
  • According to a relative of Nathan who provided some of the sources Amit studied, the abbot reportedly also wrote letters to the Vatican and to monasteries in Switzerland pleading for a safe exit for Wolfgang.
    — Jackie Hajdenberg, Sun Sentinel, 21 Apr. 2026
Definition of abbot
Noun
  • The archbishop is elected by representatives of the church’s dioceses and clergy and serves as the principal spokesperson for the province in national and international affairs.
    — Stephanie TriplettAll, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The mother of the former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was taken; so were an Anglican archbishop and his wife.
    — Alexis Okeowo, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of archbishop
Noun
  • Pernkopf was a Nazi functionary who became dean of the medical faculty in 1938 and rector of the university in 1943.
    — Jason Snyder, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Kuehl pivoted to academia, eventually becoming an associate dean of students at her alma mater, UCLA, before earning a law degree from Harvard in 1978 at age 34.
    — Sophie Clausen, PEOPLE, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of dean
Noun
  • History Johann Ludwig Krapf, a German pastor and Anglican missionary, arrived to proselytize in what is now Kenya in 1844.
    — Stephanie TriplettAll, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Hersey — reporting on a clerk, a tailor’s widow, two doctors, a priest, and a pastor — gave US readers their first sense of what the new superweapon did to human bodies.
    — Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of pastor
Noun
  • Then in 1964, Parks became a deaconess in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
    — Jacqueline Howard, CNN, 22 Feb. 2025
  • In her younger years, Webb was an avid churchgoer in Baltimore, Maryland alongside her father, a deacon, and her mother, a deaconess, who met in a church choir.
    — Robyn Mowatt, ELLE, 22 June 2023
Definition of deaconess
Noun
  • The first is the strikingly Gothic diocesan throne, which sits in the cathedral choir and dates from the Victorian era.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Mar. 2026
  • The diocesan website includes a statement from Dallas Bishop Edward Burns connecting the need for social distancing with the story of the Good Samaritan.
    — David Tarrant, Dallas News, 6 Apr. 2020
Definition of diocesan

Browse Nearby Words

presbyopic
presbyter
presbyteries
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Cite this Entry

“Presbyter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/presbyter. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about presbyter

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