annueller

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UK/ˈanjʊ.ələ/UK/ˈanjələ/US/ˈænju.əlɚ/US/ˈænjəlɚ/

noun

A priest employed in saying anniversary Masses.

Scrabble 9

Meanings

nounannueller (uncountable)
  1. historicaluncommonuncountableA priest employed in saying anniversary Masses.

    Some of the vicars and annuellers, less often the secondaries, were involved in running the cathedral: carrying out financial and administrative duties, and ensuring the security of the building and close.

    2015, A. K. McHardy, “The Minor Clergy of Exeter Cathedral: Biographies, 1250-1548, Devon and Cornwall Record Society, n.s., 54 by Nicholas Orme”, in Medieval Prosopography, volume 30, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, page 204
    2 more examples

    On the 26th of November, 1337, Grandisson visited his own cathedral; on which occasion is recorded the name of Richard de Braylegh, the then Dean, together with twenty-four Prebendaries, twenty-four Vicars, twenty-one Annivellers, or Annuellers, twelve Secondaries, and four Keepers, or Sacristans, all belonging to this Church⁵⁶.

    1826, John Britton, “Chapter II: Historical Particulars of the See and Bishops of Exeter from the Reign of William the Norman till the Period of the Reformation in that of Henry the Eighth”, in The history and antiquities of the cathedral church of Exeter […] , London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, →OCLC, page 37

    The lowest class—the Curates or Vicars of absentee Rectors, the Vicars of impropriated Churches, the Parochial Chaplains and Chantry Priests, the great tribe of Priest-Vicars, Secondaries, Annuellers, and other very 'inferior' clergy who swarmed in amazing numbers round the precincts of the great Cathedrals—of these it is probable that only a small proportion had a University degree […]

    1895, Hastings Rashdall, “Chapter XIV: Student Life in the Middle Ages”, in Charles Beem, editor, The Universities of England in the Middle Ages, volume II, part II, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 698

Origin

  1. Anglo-Normanannueler
  2. Middle Englishannueller
  3. Englishannueller

A learned borrowing from Middle English annueller, variant of annueler, from Anglo-Norman annueler; equivalent to annual + -er. First attested in 1826.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

annular (some pronunciations)
Cite this entry
APA

annueller. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/annueller

MLA

“annueller.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/annueller. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “annueller,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/annueller.

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