English
sexton
Sexton comes from Latin sacer ‘sacred’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacer‘sacred’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500sacristanus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400segrestien
- Englishearliest quotation 1828sexton
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacer‘sacred’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500sacristanus
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400segrestien
- Englishearliest quotation 1828sexton
Earliest quotation: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “The whole village poured out to gaze on these…”
Linked words
through Latin sacer ‘sacred’
Today it means
noun A church official who looks after a church building and its graveyard and may act as a gravedigger and bell ringer.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin sacer / sexton