Priest vs. Reverend: What’s the Difference?
Main Difference
The main difference between Priest and Reverend is that the Priest is a person authorized to lead the sacred rituals of a religion (for a minister use Q1423891) and Reverend is a Christian religious title.
Priest
A priest or priestess (feminine) is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which also may apply to such persons collectively.
Reverend
The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a title, form of address or title of respect. The style is also sometimes used by leaders in non-Christian religions such as Judaism and Buddhism.
The term is an anglicisation of the Latin reverendus, the style originally used in Latin documents in medieval Europe. It is the gerundive or future passive participle of the verb revereri (“to respect; to revere”), meaning “[one who is] to be revered/must be respected”. The Reverend is therefore equivalent to The Honourable or The Venerable. It is paired with a modifier or noun for some offices in some religious traditions: Anglican archbishops and most Roman Catholic bishops are usually styled The Most Reverend (reverendissimus); other Anglican bishops and some Roman Catholic bishops are styled The Right Reverend; some Reformed churches have used The Reverend Mister as a style for their clergy.
With Christian clergy, the forms His Reverence and Her Reverence is also sometimes used, along with its parallel in direct address, Your Reverence. The abbreviation HR is sometimes used.
Priest (noun)
a religious clergyman (clergywoman, clergyperson) who is trained to perform services or sacrifices at a church or temple
“The priest at the Catholic church heard his confession.”
“The Shinto priest burnt incense for his ancestors.”
“The Israelite priests were descended from Moses’ brother Aaron.”
Priest (noun)
a blunt tool, used for quickly stunning and killing fish
Priest (noun)
the highest office in the Aaronic priesthood
Priest (verb)
To ordain as a priest.
Reverend (adjective)
worthy of reverence or respect
Reverend (noun)
a member of the Christian clergy
Priest (noun)
an ordained minister of the Catholic, Orthodox, or Anglican Church, authorized to perform certain rites and administer certain sacraments
“the priest celebrated mass at a small altar off the north transept”
Priest (noun)
a person who performs religious ceremonies and duties in a non-Christian religion
“the plays were performed within the sacred area of Dionysus, in the presence of his priest”
Priest (noun)
a mallet used to kill fish caught when angling.
Priest (verb)
ordain to the priesthood
“he was made deacon in 1990 and priested in 1994”
Reverend (adjective)
used as a title or form of address to members of the clergy
“the Reverend Pat Tilly”
Reverend (noun)
a member of the clergy
“a retired reverend”
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