sacerdotal

English

Etymology

From Middle English sacerdotale, from Old French sacerdotal, from Latin sacerdōtālis (“priestly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsæs.ə(ɹ)ˈdəʊ.təl/, sometimes /ˌsæ.kə(ɹ)ˈdəʊ.təl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊtəl

Adjective

sacerdotal (comparative more sacerdotal, superlative most sacerdotal)

1. (religion) Of or relating to priests or a high religious order; priestly.
   • 1711, Roger Laurence, Sacerdotal Powers:

     ...and so neither is the Silence of the Reformed, and of the Church of England in relation to the Rebaptization of Persons Baptiz'd by Midwives and Laymen, any Argument against their receiving Sacerdotal Baptism; so long as that is the only Baptism which Christ Instituted, and which by his Law every one is bound to receive, who has not yet received it.

   • 1864, Fitz-Hugh Ludlow, The Atlantic:

     ...some of the figures are costumed in the style of religious art, with flowing sacerdotal garments.

   • 1885–1886, Henry James, The Bostonians […], London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 16 February 1886, →OCLC:

     Verena's initial appearance in Boston, as he called her performance at Miss Birdseye's, had been a great success; and this reflection added, as I say, to his habitually sacerdotal expression.

   • 1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 108:

     The coronation of Edgar raised English kings to the level of emperors, and it initiated the mystical and sometimes almost sacerdotal status with which the English royal family was to wreath itself for centuries to come.

Synonyms

• hieratic (Grecian)
• priestly

Derived terms

• antisacerdotal
• extrasacerdotal
• nonsacerdotal
• sacerdotage
• sacerdotalise
• sacerdotalism
• sacerdotalist
• sacerdotalize
• sacerdotally
• semisacerdotal
• unsacerdotal

Translations

of or relating to priests or a high religious order

• Bulgarian: жречески (žrečeski)
• French: sacerdotal (fr)
• Ido: sacerdotala (io)
• Irish: sagartúil
• Latin: sacerdōtālis
• Portuguese: sacerdotal (pt)
• Russian: свяще́ннический (ru) (svjaščénničeskij)

Anagrams

• crateloads

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sacerdotālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sa.sɛʁ.dɔ.tal/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Adjective

sacerdotal (feminine sacerdotale, masculine plural sacerdotaux, feminine plural sacerdotales)

1. priestly

Further reading

• “sacerdotal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Galician

Etymology

From Latin sacerdōtālis.

Adjective

sacerdotal m or f (plural sacerdotais)

1. priestly

Related terms

• sacerdote

Further reading

• “sacerdotal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Old Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sacerdōtālis, from sacerdōs (“priest”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sat͡seɾdoˈtal/

Adjective

sacerdotal (plural sacerdotales)

1. priestly
   • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 46r:

     e depues ueno ſaul. ⁊ enop. e p̃ſo eſtos ſacerdotes e mato dent .Lxxx. ⁊ .v. reueſtidos de ſac̃dotal ueſtimienta

     [E depués veno Saul e Enop. E priso estos sacerdotes e mató dent ochaenta e cinco revestidos de sacerdotal vestimienta]

     And then came Saul to Nob. And he took these priests and killed therein eighty-five men dressed in the priestly garments.

Related terms

• sacerdocio
• sacerdote

Descendants

• Spanish: sacerdotal

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sacerdōtālis.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sa.seʁ.doˈtaw/ [sa.seɦ.doˈtaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sa.seʁ.doˈtaw/ [sa.seɦ.doˈtaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /sa.seɾ.doˈtaw/ [sa.seɾ.doˈtaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /sa.seʁ.doˈtaw/ [sa.seʁ.doˈtaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /sa.seɻ.doˈtaw/ [sa.seɻ.doˈtaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɐ.sɨɾ.duˈtal/ [sɐ.sɨɾ.ðuˈtaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɐ.sɨɾ.duˈtal/ [sɐ.sɨɾ.ðuˈtaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɐ.sɨɾ.duˈta.li/ [sɐ.sɨɾ.ðuˈta.li]

• Hyphenation: sa‧cer‧do‧tal

Adjective

sacerdotal m or f (plural sacerdotais)

1. (religion) sacerdotal (relating to priests or a high religious order)

Related terms

• sacerdote

Further reading

• “sacerdotal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sacerdotal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French sacerdotal, from Latin sacerdotalis. By surface analysis, sacerdot +‎ -al.

Adjective

sacerdotal m or n (feminine singular sacerdotală, masculine plural sacerdotali, feminine/neuter plural sacerdotale)

1. sacerdotal

Declension

Declension of sacerdotal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	sacerdotal		sacerdotală	sacerdotali	sacerdotale
	definite	sacerdotalul		sacerdotala	sacerdotalii	sacerdotalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	sacerdotal		sacerdotale	sacerdotali	sacerdotale
	definite	sacerdotalului		sacerdotalei	sacerdotalilor	sacerdotalelor

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish sacerdotal, from Latin sacerdōtālis (“priestly”), from sacerdōs (“priest”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saθeɾdoˈtal/ [sa.θeɾ.ð̞oˈt̪al] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /saseɾdoˈtal/ [sa.seɾ.ð̞oˈt̪al] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: sa‧cer‧do‧tal

Adjective

sacerdotal m or f (masculine and feminine plural sacerdotales)

1. sacerdotal

Related terms

• sacerdote

Further reading

• “sacerdotal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025