Priestley

P3R1I1E1S1T1L1E1Y4

proper noun

A surname from Old English.

OriginOld English prēost →
Less commonScrabble 14
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Meanings

proper nounPriestley (countable and uncountable, plural Priestleys)

plural Priestleys · alternative Presley · alternative Pressly

  1. countableuncountableA surname from Old English.
  2. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Lincoln County, West Virginia, United States.

Origin

  1. Old Englishprēost“priest”
  2. EnglishPriestley

Habitational surname from aby of various minor places in North Yorkshire, from Old English prēost (“priest”) + lēah (“wood clearing, meadow, leigh”). Equivalent to priest + -ley (“lea”).

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

peristyle
Cite this entry
APA

Priestley. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Priestley

MLA

“Priestley.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Priestley. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Priestley,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Priestley.

Source: Priestley on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.