Priestly

//ˈpɹiːstli// adj, name

adj, name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or relating to priests.
  2. 2
    Pertaining to the Priestly source (“P”), one of the sources of the Torah or Pentateuch according to the documentary hypothesis. not-comparable, usually

    "Thus we continue to meet the new Priestly expression, “you (they) shall know that I am Yahweh” […]"

  3. 3
    Having the appearance of or resembling a priest.
Adjective
  1. 1
    befitting or characteristic of a priest or the priesthood wordnet
  2. 2
    associated with the priesthood or priests wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A habitational surname from Old English.

Synonyms

All synonyms
hieraticsacerdotalabbatialabbaticalarchiepiscopalcanonical

Example

More examples

"And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation. These are the words thou shalt speak to the children of Israel."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English prestly; equivalent to priest + -ly.

Etymology 2

Variant of Priestley.

Etymology 3

Semantic loan from German priesterlich and Priesterschrift (“Priestly source”, literally “priest document”), so called because of the reconstructed source’s emphasis on cultic issues. See priestly.

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