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''parson'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260904120411-00-⌔

parson - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

parson (plural parsons)

  • An Anglican cleric having full legal control of a parish under ecclesiastical law.
    • ✤ Synonyms: rector; autem bawler (slang, archaic, rare), autem jet (obsolete, Britain, thieves’ cant)
    • ✤ Hypernym: cleric
    • ✤ Coordinate term: vicar
  • A Protestant minister.
    • ✤ Hypernyms: minister; cleric
  • (now chiefly historical) A Roman Catholic priest of an independent parish church.
    • ✤ Hypernyms: priest; cleric
    • ✤ a lewde curate,
      A parson benyfyced
      But nothynge well advysed.      1

Etymology

From Middle English persoun, from Anglo-Norman, Old French persone (“parson, person”), from Medieval Latin persona (“parson, person”), from Latin persona (“person”). Doublet of person and persona.

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈpɑːs(ə)n/
    • Audio (Southern England): 🔊
  • (General American) IPA: /ˈpɑɹsən/
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)sən
  • Hyphenation: par‧son

Printed 2026-09-04.

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Footnotes

  1. c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 35–37: ↩