priest [OE] The Greek presbuteros ‘elder’ was used in the New Testament for ‘elder of the church, priest’ and became presbyter in Latin, which passed into Old English as preost, modern ‘priest’. Presbuteros is also the source of presbytery [LME] and Presbyterian [E17th]. The usual Latin word for priest was sacerdos from sacer ‘holy’, which is the source of many words including sacrament [ME], sacred [ME], sacrifice [ME], and the opposite execrate [M16th] ‘to curse’. The related sacrilege comes from Latin sacrilegus ‘stealer of holy things’. See also saint.