different between priestess vs priestesslike

English

Alternative forms

• priestress (now chiefly US, nonstandard)

Etymology

From priest +? -ess. Compare Middle English preesteresse (“priestess”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pri??st?s/, /?pri??stes/

Noun

priestess (plural priestesses, masculine priest)

1. A woman with religious duties and responsibilities in certain non-Christian religions.
2. (religious slur, uncommon) A female Christian priest or minister, typically in a Protestant, Old Catholic, or independent Catholic denomination.
3. (colloquial, obsolete) A priest’s wife.

Usage notes

Chiefly with regard to ancient or Pagan religions, or metaphorically. In Protestant denominations that admit women to the priesthood, such as Anglicanism, they are generally referred to as priests.

Synonyms

• (female non-Christian religious figure): kahuna, mamaloi, mambo
• (priest’s wife): presbytera, presbyteress

Hyponyms

• (female non-Christian religious figure): bacchante, high priestess

Derived terms

• high priestess
• priestesshood
• priestesslike

Translations

Verb

priestess (third-person singular simple present priestesses, present participle priestessing, simple past and past participle priestessed)

1. (transitive) To oversee (a pagan ceremony, etc.) as priestess.

   • Ye Ye Ife, a gifted feminist ritualist and priestess of Oshun from San Diego, trained in the Yoruba tradition, designed and priestessed the ritual with me.

   • 2014, John C. Sulak, Carl Llewellyn Weschcke, Oberon Zell, The Wizard and the Witch: Seven Decades of Counterculture, Magick & Paganism

     I priestessed the ceremony. I played Hecate. One time I played Demeter and my daughter played Persephone.

See also

• abbatess, abbess, abbotess
• adoratrice
• domina
• Mother
• Mother Superior, mother superior
• prioress

English

Etymology

priestess +? -like

Adjective

priestesslike (comparative more priestesslike, superlative most priestesslike)

1. Resembling or characteristic of a priestess.