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lector

 - 3 dictionary results

lec⋅tor

  [lek-ter]
Use lector in a Sentence
–noun
1. a lecturer in a college or university.
2. Roman Catholic Church.
a. a member of the next to lowest-ranking of the minor orders.
b. the order itself. Compare acolyte (def. 2), exorcist (def. 2), ostiary (def. 1).
Origin:
1425–75; late ME < L: a reader, equiv. to leg(ere) to read + -tor -tor

Related forms:
lec⋅tor⋅ate  [lek-ter-it, -tuh-reyt] , lec⋅tor⋅ship, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To lector
lec·tor   (lěk'tər)   
n.  

  1. A person who reads aloud certain of the scriptural passages used in a church service.

  2. A public lecturer or reader in certain universities.


[Middle English, from Late Latin lēctor, from Latin, reader, from lēctus, past participle of legere, to read; see lecture.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

lector

in Christianity, a person chosen or set apart to read Holy Scripture in the church services. In the Eastern Orthodox churches lector is one of the minor orders in preparation for the priesthood. Although formerly a minor order in the Roman Catholic Church, the office was named a ministry by Pope Paul VI in a motu proprio (initiated by the Pope without advice, effective Jan. 1, 1973) and was opened to laymen. Officially this ministry is reserved to men, although in practice women may serve as lectors without being formally installed in the ministry

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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