Meanings
parson1
plural parsons
- An Anglican cleric having full legal control of a parish under ecclesiastical law.
Synonyms: rector, autem bawler, autem jet
- historicalA Roman Catholic priest of an independent parish church.
a lewde curate, A parson benyfyced But nothynge well advysed.
c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 35–37
Parson2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn Anglican cleric having full legal control of a parish under ecclesiastical law.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna person authorized to conduct religious worship
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpersona“person”
- Medieval Latinpersona“parson, person”
- Old Frenchpersone“parson, person”
- Middle Englishpersoun
- Englishparson
From Middle English persoun, from Anglo-Norman, Old French persone (“parson, person”), from Medieval Latin persona (“parson, person”), from Latin persona (“person”). Doublet of person and persona.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic قِسِّيس
- قِسِّيس (qissīs)protestant minister
Bulgarian енорийски свещеник
- енорийски свещеник (enorijski sveštenik)cleric having full control of a parish
Czech farář, pastor
- farářprotestant minister
- pastorprotestant minister
Finnish kirkkoherra, pappi
- kirkkoherracleric having full control of a parish
- pappiprotestant minister
French curé, curé paroissial
- curécleric having full control of a parish
- curé paroissialcleric having full control of a parish
- pasteurprotestant minister
Hungarian plébános, lelkész
- plébánoscleric having full control of a parish
- lelkészprotestant minister
Italian parroco, pastore
- parrococleric having full control of a parish
- pastoreprotestant minister
Russian священник
- священник (svjaščennik)cleric having full control of a parish
Spanish párroco, cura párroco
- párrococleric having full control of a parish
- cura párrococleric having full control of a parish
- pastorprotestant minister
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with parson
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
parson. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parson
“parson.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parson. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “parson,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/parson.
Source: parson on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.