PRIESTHOOD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does priesthood mean? 

• PRIESTHOOD (noun)
  The noun PRIESTHOOD has 1 sense:

1. the body of ordained religious practitioners

  Familiarity information: PRIESTHOOD used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRIESTHOOD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The body of ordained religious practitioners

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("priesthood" is a kind of...):

profession (the body of people in a learned occupation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "priesthood"):

ministry (religious ministers collectively (especially Presbyterian))

rabbinate (rabbis collectively)

clergy (in Christianity, clergymen collectively (as distinguished from the laity))

Derivation:

priest (a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders)

priest (a person who performs religious duties and ceremonies in a non-Christian religion)

 Context examples 

These were searched and sought out through the whole nation, by the prince and his wisest counsellors, among such of the priesthood as were most deservedly distinguished by the sanctity of their lives, and the depth of their erudition; who were indeed the spiritual fathers of the clergy and the people.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)