different between sacristan vs verger

English

Etymology

From French sacristain, Late Latin sacrista, from Latin sacer. See sacred, and compare sexton.

Noun

sacristan (plural sacristans)

1. The person who maintains the sacristy and the sacred objects it contains.
   • 1793, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel

     And hence the custom and law began

     That still at dawn the sacristan,

     Who duly pulls the heavy bell,

     Five and forty beads must tell

     Between each stroke

Related terms

• sacrist
• sacristry
• sacristy

Translations

Anagrams

• arcanists

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French sacristain, Italian sacristano

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sa.kris?tan/

Noun

sacristan m (plural sacristani)

1. sacristan

Declension

Synonyms

• sacristin (dated)
• paracliser (in the Eastern Orthodox Church)

Related terms

• sacristie

See also

• sacru

References

• sacristan in DEX online - Dic?ionare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

English

Alternative forms

• virger

Etymology

From verge (“rod”) +? -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?v??d???/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?v?d???/
• Rhymes: -??(?)d??(?)
• Homophone: verdure (one pronunciation)
• Hyphenation: verger

Noun

verger (plural vergers)

1. One who carries a verge, or emblem of office.
2. (chiefly Britain, Christianity) A lay person who takes care of the interior of a church and acts as an attendant during services, where he or she carries the verge (or virge). In the United States, the office is generally combined with that of sexton.
   • 1942, Emily Carr, “The Blessing”, in The Book of Small:^[1]

     As soon as we were all in the night the verger rolled shut the doors and blotted out the chandeliers.

3. (chiefly Britain, Christianity) An usher; also, in major ecclesiastical landmarks, a tour guide.
4. (Britain) An attendant upon a dignitary, such as a bishop or dean, a justice, etc.
   • 1725, John Strype, Annals of the Reformation and Establishment of Religion, and Other Various Occurrences in the Church of England, during Queen Elizabeth’s Happy Reign, Oxford: Clarendon, 1824, Vol. I, Part I, Chapter 23, p. 408,^[2]

     When she came to her place she opened the book, and perused it, and saw the pictures, but frowned and blushed; and then shut it, (of which several took notice,) and calling the verger, bade him bring her the old book, wherein she was formerly wont to read.

French

Etymology

From Middle French vergier, from Old French vergier, from Vulgar Latin *virdiariu, syncopated form of Latin viridi?rium, variant of virid?rium, from viridis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v??.?e/

Noun

verger m (plural vergers)

1. orchard

Related terms

• vert

Further reading

• “verger” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).