[sek-stuh
n] 
| 1. | an official of a church charged with taking care of the edifice and its contents, ringing the bell, etc., and sometimes with burying the dead. |
| 2. | an official who maintains a synagogue and its religious articles, chants the designated portion of the Torah on prescribed days, and assists the cantor in conducting services on festivals. |
[sek-stuhn] | Anne (Harvey), 1928–74, U.S. poet. |
| sex·ton (sěk'stən) n. An employee or officer of a church who is responsible for the care and upkeep of church property and sometimes for ringing bells and digging graves. [Middle English sextein, from Anglo-Latin sextānus, probably from Medieval Latin secristānus, sacristan, variant of sacristānus; see sacristan.] |
| Sex·ton (sěk'stən) American poet whose works, including the collections Live or Die (1966) and The Death Notebooks (1974), document her struggle with mental illness and her search for faith. |
sexton
church custodian charged with keeping the church and parish buildings prepared for meetings, caring for church equipment, and performing related minor duties such as ringing the bell and digging graves. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with "sacristan," denoting a church officer who is specifically in charge of the sacristy and its sacred utensils and vestments but who also may perform the duties of sexton.
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