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• sacerdotal •

Pronunciation: sæk-êr-dot-êl • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Priestly, characteristic of a priest or the priesthood.

Notes: Sacerdotal comes with a large entourage of related words. Of course there is the adverb, sacerdotally, but we find two options for a noun: sacerdotalness and sacerdotality. There is another noun, sacerdotalism "the sacerdotal spirit" or "the belief that priests have special powers".

In Play: Today's Good Word means connected to priests or the priesthood in any way whatsoever: "Sacerdotal marriage is considered incompatible with Roman Catholic theology, though priestly marriage is tolerated in the Orthodox Church." Anywhere you feel comfortable with priestly, you may substitute today's word to give your speech a bit of gravitas: "Phil Anders left the priesthood because the sacerdotal life didn't suit him."

Word History: This word comes directly from Old French sacerdotal, inherited from Latin sacerdotalis "of or pertaining to a priest". Sacerdotalis, in turn, comes from a former compound noun, sacra "sacrifices" + do-, a variant of da- in dare "to give, offer" + -alis, an adjective suffix, that is, "one who offers sacrifices". This word also appears with a Fickle N in sanctus "sacred". The root of this word we find in the English borrowings from French and Latin sacrosanct, sanctify and (inner) sanctum. Saint, of course, is the French word for "holy", which appears before the name of all the saints: Saint Pierre "holy Peter", Saint Bernard "holy Bernard". (We must now thank Doug Shulek-Miller for recommending today's sacerdotal Good Word.)

Among "the large entourage of related words, " to quote the good Doc, are su·per·sac·er·do·tal, adjective, and su·per·sac·er·do·tal·ly, adverb. According to Dictionary.com,
super-sacerdotal is a synonym of sacerdotal. Odd!

When I think of the meaning of sacerdotal I don't think of the word itself, but John Keat's poetic evocation from "Bright Star:"

BRIGHT star! would I were steadfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature’s patient sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,

"Priestlike task," quite beautiful. "Sacerdotal" wouldn't do.

MTC: Sacerdotal would not scan as well as priestlike in Keat's poem. If one pronounced the c as a soft sound, the word would even sound nice. The hard K sound ruins it for poetry and puts it pretty much out of my speaking vocabulary.

"Sacerdotal" cannot be redeemed, Philip.

I'm pretty sure I have heard the soft C sound pronounced in sacerdotal. Not a common word in any case.

Cartloads and escalator? What do these words have in common? They are anagrams of sacerdotal. It seems sacerdotal is not beyond redemption, after all.

Look for the good in men and words, they say. And lo, searching further I found sacerdotal pronounced in some very euphonious ways on Forvo. The English pronunciation sounds like a chicken on a chopping block. Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, and French pronunciations which follow flow off the tongue like honey. Acoustic metamorphoses worthy of Ovid.
http://www.forvo.com/word/sacerdotal/

Sacerdotal may well have different pronunciations in different languages, but in English I fear it has but one. Not that it's a total poetic loss, however. Only if the poet is striving for a purely euphonious effect does it not cut the mustard. I'm quite sure that the Agora's more poetically inclined could come up with an excellent way of using it.

By the by, escalator is not an anagram of sacerdotal. It lacks the "d".

Yes, I'm going for pedantry on that one. If an "anagram" does not use all the letters of the original word, we would have to accept "me" as an anagram of epistemology.

Or, have they come to celebrate
Some sacred sacerdotal rite;
By civic feast, to emulate
Some deed, on history's pages bright?
Or can this grand occasion be
Some battle's anniversary?
"Echoes From Galilee." by Alfred Castner King

God fends and fights in each of us;
His altars we, or bright or dim;
So with no sacerdotal fuss
But worthy act let's worship Him:
Goodness is Godness - let us be
Deserving of Divinity.
"God's Battleground" by Robert W Service

So spake Esaias: so, in words of flame,
Tekoa's prophet-herdsman smote with blame
The traffickers in men, and put to shame,
All earth and heaven before,
The sacerdotal robbers of the poor.
"To George B. Cheever" by John Greenleaf Whittier

You were right to fear, Slava. Sacerdotal has more than one pronunciation in English. The poems above employ the "soft C" Perry spoke of, not the hard "k" Philip referred to, which is the way the first syllable is pronounced on Forvo. "Sass-er-do-tl" is a vast improvement over "sak-er-do-tl," but still, no favorite of mine.

P.S. Is "anagrump" a word? Appears it could be useful.

Two of MTC's quotes employ sacerdotal in a pejorative sense. Priest-craft, like magic, is scorned by many. My simple, little, non-sophisticated religion calls all believers priests and all believers saints. I think it best fits the New Testament model.

I guess I should have checked to make sure of what I was expounding before I put my foot in it. I'll now have to admit I was wrong and eat some crow.

I've now looked at several dictionaries and every one of them has the "sassy" pronunciation listed first, which is usually where the preferred one goes. Two don't even mention the possibility of the "k" version.

Now that I've thought about it, it makes sense. Saracen and mercenary both have a soft c. I'm guessing we get the k by analogy with sacred and sacrifice.

No need to add injury to insult by becoming a corviphage, Slava. (Don't bother looking it up.) Haven't crows already suffered enough at our hands? Greeted too often with an unwelcoming shower of birdshot and an unfriendly idiom, I expect. Ever wonder why "cocks crow?" Shouldn't cocks "cock," not "crow?" A disrespectful "encrowchment," on the crow's own territory, you might say. Crows have been abused in word and deed quite long enough. Let's show our corvine friends a little more respect next time, shall we.

Speaking with the authority of a pastor/priest, I must inquire whether in partaking the repast of Crow you properly invoked the ritual. And I further hope the crows name was not Jim.

I was glad to see this word today. In Spanish, the word for priesthood is sacerdocio and one who holds a priesthood office is a sacerdote. Don't use the word much when I'm speaking English but do when speaking Spanish.

Thank you MTC, for your poetry references . I especially liked the poem "To George B. Cheever"

Your humble servant, gwray, bowing with a flourish...