exorcist

Pronunciation key ( ek′sôr-sist )

ex•or•cist

n.

[Gr. eksorkidzein "to cast out by adjuration"].

1. A person who exorcises. In the early Christian church anyone who drove out evil spirits from persons, places or things.
2. In the Roman Catholic Church, the exorcist's office was established for clerics, with the earliest record of the special ordination is the 7th canon of the council of Carthage, A.D. 398, but gradually his duties were assumed by the priest.
3. In Greek churches and Roman Catholicism, a term especially applied to the minor orders; refers to this order's function of practicing exorcism. This position is the 3rd grade in the minor orders of the clergy between those of acolyte and reader. The office is actually no more than a preliminary stage within the priesthood.

See Exorcism.

References

Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th Edition ©1929

Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (College Edition) ©1955

The New World Family Encyclopedia ©1955

Webster's Improved Dictionary and Everyday Encyclopedia ©1956

Encyclopedia International ©1966 (Grolier Inc.)