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spiritual leader

/ˌspɪrɪtʃ(əw)əl ˌlidər/
IPA guide

Other forms: spiritual leaders

Definitions of spiritual leader
  1. noun
    a leader in religious or sacred affairs
    see moresee less
    examples:
    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
    political and spiritual leader during India's struggle with Great Britain for home rule; an advocate of passive resistance (1869-1948)
    types:
    cantor, hazan
    the official of a synagogue who conducts the liturgical part of the service and sings or chants the prayers intended to be performed as solos
    Catholicos
    the ecclesiastical title of the leaders of the Nestorian and Armenian churches
    clergyman, man of the cloth, reverend
    a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of a Christian church
    Evangelist
    (when capitalized) any of the spiritual leaders who are assumed to be authors of the Gospels in the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
    patriarch
    title for the heads of the Eastern Orthodox Churches (in Istanbul and Alexandria and Moscow and Jerusalem)
    non-Christian priest, priest
    a person who performs religious duties and ceremonies in a non-Christian religion
    rabbi
    spiritual leader of a Jewish congregation; qualified to expound and apply Jewish law
    acolyte
    someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches
    amora
    one of a group of rabbis (active AD 250-500) who discussed the Mishnaic law in the law schools of Palestine and Mesopotamia where they explained and applied earlier teachings and whose discussions are recorded in the Talmud; they emphasized the study of Torah and the importance of personal action and the fulfillment of the commandments
    anagnost
    a cleric in the minor orders of the Eastern Orthodox Church who reads the lessons aloud in the liturgy (analogous to the lector in the Roman Catholic Church)
    antipope
    someone who is elected pope in opposition to another person who is held to be canonically elected
    archdeacon
    (Anglican Church) an ecclesiastical dignitary usually ranking just below a bishop
    chaplain
    a clergyman ministering to some institution
    churchman, cleric, divine, ecclesiastic
    a clergyman or other person in religious orders
    curate, minister, minister of religion, parson, pastor, rector
    a person authorized to conduct religious worship
    deacon
    a cleric ranking just below a priest in Christian churches; one of the Holy Orders
    domine, dominee, dominie, dominus
    a clergyman; especially a settled minister or parson
    doorkeeper, ostiarius, ostiary
    the lowest of the minor Holy Orders in the unreformed Western Church but now suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church
    Druid
    a pre-Christian priest among the Celts of ancient Gaul and Britain and Ireland
    flamen
    a priest who served a particular deity in ancient Rome
    hoodoo
    a practitioner of voodoo
    lama
    a Tibetan or Mongolian priest of Lamaism
    lector, reader
    someone who reads the lessons in a church service; someone ordained in a minor order of the Roman Catholic Church
    magus
    a member of the Zoroastrian priesthood of the ancient Persians
    officiant
    a clergyman who officiates at a religious ceremony or service
    ordinand
    a person being ordained
    ordinary
    a clergyman appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death
    postulator
    (Roman Catholic Church) someone who proposes or pleads for a candidate for beatification or canonization
    preacher, preacher man, sermoniser, sermonizer
    someone whose occupation is preaching the gospel
    priest
    a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
    shepherd
    a clergyman who watches over a group of people
    priest-doctor, shaman
    in societies practicing shamanism: one acting as a medium between the visible and spirit worlds; practices sorcery for healing or divination
    subdeacon
    a clergyman an order below deacon; one of the Holy Orders in the unreformed western Christian church and the eastern Catholic Churches but now suppressed in the Roman Catholic Church
    vicar
    (Church of England) a clergyman appointed to act as priest of a parish
    vicar
    (Episcopal Church) a clergyman in charge of a chapel
    votary
    a priest or priestess (or consecrated worshipper) in a non-Christian religion or cult
    type of:
    leader
    a person who rules or guides or inspires others
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