Priesthood

//ˈpɹiːstˌhʊd// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The role or office of a priest. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    the body of ordained religious practitioners wordnet
  3. 3
    Priests as a group. countable, uncountable

    "Holonym: clergy"

  4. 4
    Authority to act in the name of God or the divine in general. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
apostleshipcallcare of soulschurchclergyclergy

Example

More examples

"Tom entered the priesthood in 2013."

Etymology

From Middle English presthed, presthede, presthod, presthode, from Old English prēosthād (“priesthood”), equivalent to priest + -hood. Compare Dutch priesterheid (“priesthood”).

Related phrases

bought priesthoodpriesthood of all believers

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.