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A clergyman authorized to administer all the sacraments; as, a traveling elder. Presiding elder (Meth. Ch.), an elder commissioned by a bishop to have the oversight of the churches and preachers in a certain district. -- Ruling elder, a lay presbyter or member of a Presbyterian church session. Schaff.…

London, which originally stood near a stream, the Fleet (now filled up). Fleet parson, a clergyman of low character, in, or in the vicinity of, the Fleet prison, who was ready to unite persons in marriage (called Fleet marriage) at any hour, without public notice, witnesses, or consent of parents.

clothes worn by any person, especially when indicating rank or office; as, the garb of a clergyman or a judge.

to conduct or preside at; as, the general held a council of war; a judge holds a court; a clergyman holds a service. I would hold more talk with thee. Shak.

A clergyman so inducted.

nt but sin. Jer. Taylor. His slightest and most indifferent acts . . . were odious in the clergyman's sight. Hawthorne.

The introduction of a clergyman into a benefice, or of an official into a office, with appropriate acts or ceremonies; the giving actual possession of an ecclesiastical living or its temporalities.

One who intrudes; especially, one who favors the appointment of a clergyman to a parish, by a patron, against the wishes of the parishioners.

A clergyman or officer in a kirk. [Scot.]

corpse was carried to the church or burial place, and where the bier was placed to await clergyman; a corpse gate. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell. -- Lich wake, the wake, or watching, held over a corpse before burial. [Prov Eng.] Chaucer. -- Lich wall, the wall of a churchyard or burying ground. -- Lich way, the path by wh…

The benefice of a clergyman; an ecclesiastical charge which a minister receives. [Eng.] He could not get a deanery, a prebend, or even a living Macaulay. Livng room, the room most used by the family.

That with which one makes shift; a temporary expedient. James Mill. I am not a model clergyman, only a decent makeshift. G. Eliot.

The parsonage; a clergyman's house. [Scot.] Capital manse, the manor house, or lord's court.

g in a particular place, on one's own estate, or in one's proper place; as, a nonresident clergyman or proprietor of lands.

on in matters ecclesiastical; an ecclesiastical judge; also, a deputy of the bishop, or a clergyman appointed to perform divine service for condemned criminals and assist in preparing them for death.

ut composed of those persons who choose to unite under the charge of a particular priest, clergyman, or minister; also, loosely, the territory in which the members of a congregation live. [U. S.]

Any clergyman having ecclesiastical preferment; one who is in orders, or is licensed to preach; a preacher. He hears the parson pray and preach. Longfellow. Parson bird (Zoöl.), a New Zealand bird (Prosthemadera Novæseelandiæ) remarkable for its powers of mimicry and its ability to articulate words. Its color is glossy…

A certain sum of money paid to a clergyman in lieu of tithes. [Eng.] Mozley & W.

A clerk or clergyman who holds more than one ecclesiastical benefice. [Eng.] Of the parochial clergy, a large proportion were pluralists. Macaulay.

See Plurality of benefices, below. Plurality of benefices (Eccl.), the possession by one clergyman of more than one benefice or living. Each benefice thus held is called a plurality. [Eng.]