churchwarden

[ church-wawr-dn ]

/ ˈtʃɜrtʃˌwɔr dn /

Anglican Church. a lay officer who looks after the secular affairs of the church, and who, in England, is the legal representative of the parish.

Episcopal Church. a lay church officer who, with other members of the vestry, is in charge of the temporal management of the parish.

a long-stemmed clay pipe for smoking.

Origin of churchwarden

1400–50; late Middle English chirche wardeyn

Another, with sarcastic wit, said, "Moses looks like some churchwarden who would have to be careful how he ate his soup."

The Parish Clerk (1907) |Peter Hampson Ditchfield
Mrs. Churchwarden Smith would have considered her opinion triumphantly vindicated.

The Following of the Star |Florence L. Barclay
At the same instant the people's churchwarden rose, and both advanced upon Joe Gander from opposite sides of the church.

A Book of Ghosts |Sabine Baring-Gould
If I might be so bold as to give my advice, I would have it put in a basket, and sent out and laid at the churchwarden's door.

The World's Greatest Books, Vol IV. |Editors: Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton

There had been no churchwarden in the parish for the last ten years, nor, it is believed, for a much longer period.

British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIII |Various

churchwarden

/ (ˌtʃɜːtʃˈwɔːdən) /

Church of England Episcopal Church one of two assistants of a parish priest who administer the secular affairs of the church

a long-stemmed tobacco pipe made of clay