sexton

/'sekstən/

Thân thiện

The sexton carefully polishes the silver candlesticks in the quiet church.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A church officer responsible for maintaining church property and ringing the bell: A sexton is a person employed by a church to take care of the church building and its contents, perform duties such as bell-ringing, and sometimes assist with gravedigging.
   • A surname: "Sexton" is also a family name, notably belonging to the American poet Anne Sexton.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Church Officer):
  • The old sexton has been ringing the church bell for fifty years.
  • Please speak to the sexton if you need to arrange a meeting in the church hall.
• Noun (Surname):
  • The confessional poetry of Anne Sexton is widely studied.

Advanced Usage

• Historical Role: In historical contexts, the sexton's duties often extended to digging graves and maintaining the churchyard.
  • In the 19th-century parish, the sexton was also the gravedigger.

Variants and Related Words

• Sextonry (n, rare): The office or position of a sexton.
  • He was appointed to the sextonry of the cathedral.

Synonyms

• Churchwarden (though a churchwarden is typically a lay volunteer with administrative duties, while a sexton is a paid caretaker).
• Beadle (a minor parish officer whose duties can overlap with those of a sexton).
• Verger (an officer who cares for the interior of a church and leads processions).

Related Phrases

• Sexton's lodge: A small house or room on church grounds where the sexton lives or works.
  • The keys are kept in the sexton's lodge.

Học thuật

Noun

1. an officer of the church who is in charge of sacred objects
2. United States poet (1928-1974)

Từ đồng nghĩa

• sacristan
• Sexton
• Anne Sexton