presbyter

Presbyter, presbyteri is a second declension masculine loan from Greek presbyteros, "elder". It is a Christian word from the first: classical Latin has no use for it, and its presence in a text places that text firmly after the New Testament.

Medieval scribes wrote presbiter as readily as presbyter, often on the same page, so both spellings need recognising. In the orders of ministry it sits below episcopus and above diaconus. English priest is a worn-down descendant of it by way of Old English preost, while presbyter and Presbyterian were borrowed again, fresh from the Greek, at the Reformation. Sacerdos is the wider word and covers pagan priests too.