ostiary
Definition
- Noun:
- A doorkeeper or porter: An ostiary is a person who guards or watches over an entrance, such as the door of a building, especially in a historical or religious context.
- A former minor order in the Catholic Church: In the unreformed Western Church, an ostiary was the lowest of the minor holy orders, with duties related to the physical church building. This order is now suppressed.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- In ancient Rome, an ostiary was responsible for the doors of important buildings.
- Before the reforms, a man might be ordained as an ostiary, tasked with ringing the bells and guarding the church door.
Advanced Usage
- Historical/Religious Context: The term is primarily used in historical or ecclesiastical writing to describe the office or the person holding it.
- The duties of the ostiary included keeping the church clean and ensuring only the baptized entered.
Variants and Related Words
- Ostiarium (n): The office or position of an ostiary.
- Porter (n): A more common modern synonym for a doorkeeper or gatekeeper.
- Doorkeeper (n): A direct synonym for the primary meaning.
Synonyms
- Doorkeeper
- Porter
- Gatekeeper
- Janitor (in its older sense of a caretaker)
Related Phrases
- To hold the office of ostiary: To serve in the position of a doorkeeper, especially in a church.
- He was appointed to hold the office of ostiary for the cathedral.
Related Idioms
No common idioms are directly associated with the word "ostiary".
Noun
-
someone who guards an entrance
-
the lowest of the minor Holy Orders in the unreformed Western Church but now suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church
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