Presbyterian

How to spell presbyterian

12 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce presbyterian

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does presbyterian mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to a Protestant church governed by elders rather than bishops.
2. nounA member of a church governed by elders, in the Reformed Protestant tradition.

Presbyterian in a sentence

• adjective

  The family attended a small presbyterian church on the edge of town.

• noun

  As a lifelong presbyterian she served on the church council for decades.

• adjective

  The wedding followed a traditional presbyterian order of service.

• noun

  The minister was a presbyterian raised in the Scottish highlands.

Where does presbyterian come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek presbyteros, meaning 'elder' or literally 'an older man', the comparative form of presbys, 'old'. In the early Christian communities a presbyteros was a senior member appointed to lead and govern a congregation, and that same Greek word passed through Latin presbyter and eventually gave English the word 'priest'. When the Protestant Reformation took hold in Scotland and elsewhere in the 1500s, reformers built churches governed not by bishops but by assemblies of these elders, and the adjective 'presbyterian' was coined in the 1600s to describe that system of church government. The spelling keeps the Greek shape intact, which is why the tricky middle survives as -byter- rather than the more phonetic spelling a writer might expect. Knowing the link to 'presbyter' and 'priest' is a useful anchor for remembering the awkward central cluster.

How the word is built

• presby- (from Greek presbys: old man, elder)
• -ter (agent element)
• -ian (adjective/noun suffix)