sextonn.

Brit.

/ˈsɛkst(ə)n/, U.S.

/ˈsɛkst(ə)n/

Forms:

α. Middle English cexteyn, Middle English cexteyne, Middle English segestayne, Middle English sekesteyn, Middle English sexsten, Middle English sexsteyn, Middle English sextayne, Middle English sextein, Middle English sexteyene, Middle English sexteyn, Middle English sexteyne, Middle English–1500s sextayn, Middle English–1500s sextene, Middle English–1600s sexten, 1500s cyxten, 1500s saxten, 1500s seixten, 1500s sequestern, 1500s sexteene, 1500s sexteine, 1500s sextine, 1500s– sexton, 1600s saxton, 1600s sextaine, 1600s sextan, 1600s sextin, 1600s sixeteene; Scottish pre-1700 saggatstane, pre-1700 segestayne, 1700s– sexton; N.E.D. (1913) also records a form late Middle English sexteen.

β. Middle English sagirstan, Middle English segerstone, Middle English segirstane, Middle English segirston, Middle English segyrstane, Middle English–1500s segerstane, 1500s sagarston, 1500s segerson, 1500s segersten, 1500s segezstane (transmission error), 1500s–1600s sagerston, 1500s–1600s segerston, 1600s seggerston; Scottish pre-1700 sakirstane, pre-1700 segirstane, pre-1700 segyrstane.

γ. late Middle English secresten, late Middle English secristane, late Middle English secristeyn, late Middle English secristoun, late Middle English sekresteyn, late Middle English sekyrsteyn, 1500s sacarston, 1500s secristan; also Scottish pre-1700 sachristane, pre-1700 sacrestaine, pre-1700 sacrestane, pre-1700 sagristane, pre-1700 secrastan, pre-1700 secrestan, pre-1700 secrestane.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French segerstain, secretain.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman segerstain, seggerstein, segrestane, sekerstain, secrestane, secrestein, etc., and Middle French secretain (late 11th cent. in Old French (chiefly northern) as segreitein ; French regional (northern) secrétain , ségretain , etc., (central) segrétain ), also Anglo-Norman and Middle French sacrestain (14th cent. or earlier as sacrestayn ) < post-classical Latin sacristanus sacristan n., partly influenced in form by post-classical Latin secretarius sacristan (6th cent.), specific use of secretarius secretary n.¹ Compare post-classical Latin segrestanus (a1128 in a British source, apparently after Anglo-Norman). Earlier currency of the Middle English α. forms is probably implied by post-classical Latin sextanus (1299 in a British source) and Anglo-Norman sextain, sextone (1319 or earlier), unless these reflect a similar phonological development in Anglo-Norman.For borrowing (in both English and French) of the word in its Latin form see sacristan n. Forms of the type sacre- (as opposed to secre- or sacri- ) are recorded at the present entry rather than sacristan n., but could with equal justification be placed at either entry. In form sequestern perhaps by confusion with sequester n.¹ The trisyllabic forms (β. and γ. ) are apparently more common in northern and Scottish texts, but not confined to these. Attested earlier as a surname, e.g. (with γ. forms) Tom. Sekerstein (1203), Godef. le Secresteyn (1255), (with β. forms) Ad. le Segresteyn (1263), Ad. le Segerstein (1296), Thom. Segrestan (1299), and (with α. forms) Will Sextyn (1307), although it is unclear whether these should be interpreted as reflecting the Anglo-Norman or the Middle English word.

a. An officer responsible for a church and its property, and for tasks relating to its maintenance or management; (in early use) spec. = sacrist n. 1; (in later use chiefly) an officer of a parish church whose responsibilities have traditionally included bell-ringing and grave-digging.Although the office is typically held by a man, women have been designated sextons since the medieval period; cf. sextoness n.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > laity > lay functionaries > sexton > [noun]

sextona1325

suffragan1437

sacristanc1440

segstar1531

dogwhipper1592

knoller1611

dog-flogger1806

dog-rapper1854

society > faith > church government > laity > lay functionaries > sexton > [noun] > female

sextona1325

sextressc1390

sextonessa1450

sextricec1475

butt woman1823

α.

a1325 St. Martha (Corpus Cambr. 145) l. 18 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S.-Eng. Legendary (1956) 355 (MED) Mi ring also Ich bitok is þe sextein.

c1405 (c1375) G. Chaucer Monk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 48 Thow art som Officer Som worthy Sexteyn or som Celerer.

?c1450 in G. J. Aungier Hist. & Antiq. Syon Monastery (1840) 284 Sche that is sexteyne moste ordeyn that the awter in the sustres quyer be honestly arayed.

1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 17 Ye Sexteyn of ye chirche to haue..xij d. for his rynggyng.

1498 in F. W. Weaver Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 363 The said cruetts and paxebrede to be in the kepyng of the Sexten of the said priorie.

1537 Whalley Abbey Inv. (P.R.O.) The sequestern that had the keping of al the seid copes.

a1539 in Archaeologia (1882) 47 56 That the president of your religion or sextene kepe them [sc. church keys].

1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) iii. 168 b As a sextine said, a man cannot carie the crosse, and ring the bells altogether.

1593 in J. W. Legg Clerk's Bk. (1903) 81 And also that the same Saxten shall..rynge the fowerthe Bell for a daye Bell.

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. i. 157 I haue been Sexten [1623 sixeteene] heere man and boy thirty yeeres.

1638 in J. W. Legg Clerk's Bk. (1903) 99 Whether your Parish Clark or Sexton hath had due regard to the Ornaments of your Church.

1696 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 260 If the said saxton be negligent therein, he shal hereby incurr the forfeiture of his place.

1708 J. Chamberlayne Present State Great Brit. (1755) i. ii. vii. 71 Where the Office of the Clerk and Sexton are distinct, the Minister chooses the former, the people the latter.

1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 395 Parish clerks and sextons are also regarded by the common law, as persons who have freeholds in their offices.

1826 T. Hood Faithless Sally Brown 67 They went and told the sexton, and The sexton toll'd the bell.

1850 S. Judd Richard Edney xl. 403 Mysie was the sexton of this Church,—she opened the house, swept the floor, and lighted the candles.

1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. i. 18 The sexton waited in the belfry ready to set the one bell in joyful agitation just at the right moment.

1937 Lima (Ohio) News 10 Mar. 24/2 Mrs. Minnie D. Tucker, the present sexton or ‘sextoness’ of the Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, has lived in a cemetery all her life.

1992 R. MacNeil Burden of Desire ii. 111 Next he met the sexton, the cathedral's handyman, caretaker, furnace attendant, and snow shoveler.

β. 1367 in B. Thuresson Middle Eng. Occup. Terms (1950) 180 (MED) Petr. de Sutton, segerstane.a1450 Rule St. Benet (Vesp.) (1902) l. 1385 (MED) Es it ordand wele Þat subpriores & segerstone And oþer offecers..Sal non be chosin bi no way Bot als þe priores wil puruay.a1450 Rule St. Benet (Vesp.) (1902) l. 1472 The Priores & oþer nane Aw for to ches a segerstane To ring þe bels.1546 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1895) II. 353 Yerlie to the segezstane [read segerstane] and belman, iiij^s. vj^d.1548 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1895) II. 530 In the saide collegiate churche bee..fower segersons.1575–6 in J. Raine Depositions Courts Durham (1845) 280 Being..sagarston of the same church 20 yeres togither.1637 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 100 For the seggerston, 3s.1687 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 255 That John Riddam shall make and assist the sagerston to make graves.γ. 1440 in A. H. Thompson Visitations Relig. Houses Diocese Lincoln (1927) III. 350 We wylle and ordeyne that the sekresteyn that is for the tyme hafe alle the advayle of the trees that growe in your kyrke yerde.1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 26 To ye Secristeyn, and to the Priour of Dusgylde.?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 780/16 Hic et hec secrista, a sekyrsteyn.a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) ii. xix. sig. r.ii Werburge appered to the secristan alone.1537 Aberdeen Reg. (1844) I. 151 Gyf the secrastan preevis nocht his warning.1597 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 127 Item the sacarston for his fourth quarter's wages, xij d.

b. figurative. Frequently attributive.

ΚΠ

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. i. 250 Old Time the clocke setter, y^t bald sexton Time.

1651 Bp. J. Taylor Rule & Exercises Holy Dying i. 4 See, how the old Sexton Time throws up the earth, and digs a Grave where we must lay our sins, or our sorrows.

1835 G. Darley Nepenthe 34 Nor floods of dust thy corse entomb Heaped o'er thee by the sexton winds!

1867 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries (1872) i. 7 The usual sextons were the crows.

1903 B. Carman Poems I. 125 The shambling sea is a sexton old, And well his work is done. With an equal grave for lord and knave, He buries them every one.

1995 L. Roy Humming Birds II. l. 9 I talk to the sexton moon and wish her well.

2. A warden, a custodian; a guardian or keeper of something, esp. a non-Christian place of worship.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > one who looks after > guardian or custodian > custodian of building

wardenc1290

sextonc1503

concierge1646

custodian1781

c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxi/2 O tho most noble bishop..thou art y^e clere lyght of thy feyth & y^e sexten of y^e crysten relygion.

1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 79 Seixten of Hesperides Sinagog [L. Hesperidum templi custos].

1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. ii. xii. 308 Varro..writeth, that Hercules his Sextaine [Fr. secrestin][etc.].

1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 39 The warden and Sextaine of that ground or soyle [L. aedituum soli], which Augustus of happy memory touched first.

1712 E. Byss tr. F. Charpentier Life Socrates 183 in tr. Xenophon Memorable Things Socrates He left the part of Diana in the Hands of Megabyzus, Sexton of the Temple of Ephesus.

1824 T. Taylor tr. Pausanius Descr. Greece (new ed.) I. x. 152 Into this temple of Venus, a woman who performs the office of a sexton, and who is forbidden to associate with a man, and a virgin who acts as an annual priestess, are alone permitted to enter.

1895 F. Granger Worship of Romans 241 The poverty of the Roman mythology is largely due to the dull fancy of the Roman sexton.

1978 Amer. Jrnl. Archaeol. 82 568 Phaethon as night sexton of the temple of Aphrodite, a role assigned to him by Hesiod.

2002 K. Hibino & A. Cummings tr. K. Mokuami Three Kichisas in J. R. Brandon & S. L. Leiter Kabuki Plays on Stage III. 263 I shaved my head, and now I'm the sexton at this temple.

†3. The custodian of the Pope's chapel. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > pope > offices or officials > [noun] > sacristan

sexton1667

1667 P. A. tr. S. Cavalli Short Acct. Pope Alexander VII 25 The Sandals were taken up by the hand of the Lord Sexton.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Office of Sexton of the Pope's Chapel is particularly affixed to the Order of the Hermits of Saint Augustin: He is generally a Bishop... He takes the Title of Prefect of the Pope's Sacristy.

1856 L. M. Sargent Dealings with Dead I. 51 When..the Pope was desperately sick, the sexton gave him extreme unction.

4. = sexton beetle n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Staphylinoidea > family Silphidae > member of genus Necrophorus

sexton beetle1840

sexton1846

gravedigger1847

necrophore1890

1836 Dublin Rev. May 14 He [sc. Gleditsch] concluded, therefore, that the beetles were the sextons on this occasion.]

1846 Merry's Museum June 183/2 We may mention something about the grave-diggers or sextons, commonly called burying-beetles.

1858 H. N. Humphreys Butterfly Vivarium xii. 235 The Burying Beetles, sometimes called the ‘Sextons’, exhibit a very interesting kind of instinct in providing for their larvae.

1885 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) II. 385 Necrophorus... These beetles are often called sextons or grave-diggers.

1919 A. Teixeira de Mattos tr. J. H. Fabre Glow-worm & Other Beetles xi. 301 To go in search of the sexton, who exists only here and there in the country-side, would be nearly always a waste of time.

2009 N. Cave Death Bunny Munro (2010) xv. 124 He had all sort of beetles—Devil's Coach-horses,..Red Soldiers and Sextons, Red Cardinals and Stag Beetles and his favourite, the Rhino Beetle.

Compounds

sexton beetle n. a beetle of the genus Nicrophorus or subfamily Nicrophorinae (family Silphidae) of typically large, somewhat flattened beetles, often black with orange bands, which bury the carcasses of small mammals and birds to provide food for their larvae; a burying beetle.

ΘΚΠ

sexton beetle1840

sexton1846

gravedigger1847

necrophore1890

1840 E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 516 Necrophorus Fabr... The instinctive habits which these insects possess of burying small quadrupeds, has caused them to be named Sexton, or Burying Beetles.

1871 Times 19 Dec. 4/4 We light upon an admirable account of the Sexton Beetle taken from Mr. E. Newman's Letters of Rusticus.

a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 866 Fifty of these sexton-beetles, some in funereal black and other species are more cheerfully attired, have been found working underneath a dead crow; and unless they are numerous they do not succeed with a largish animal.

1995 M. R. Berenbaum Bugs in Syst. iv. 61 Immature sexton beetles feed on the decaying flesh of dead birds and mammals, which is provided for them by their parents.

1996 A. Theroux Secondary Colors 73 The black, or sexton, beetle Nicrophorus has bright orange ‘hands’ emblazoned on its wing cover.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	sexton
释义	sextonn. Brit. /ˈsɛkst(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈsɛkst(ə)n/ Forms: α. Middle English cexteyn, Middle English cexteyne, Middle English segestayne, Middle English sekesteyn, Middle English sexsten, Middle English sexsteyn, Middle English sextayne, Middle English sextein, Middle English sexteyene, Middle English sexteyn, Middle English sexteyne, Middle English–1500s sextayn, Middle English–1500s sextene, Middle English–1600s sexten, 1500s cyxten, 1500s saxten, 1500s seixten, 1500s sequestern, 1500s sexteene, 1500s sexteine, 1500s sextine, 1500s– sexton, 1600s saxton, 1600s sextaine, 1600s sextan, 1600s sextin, 1600s sixeteene; Scottish pre-1700 saggatstane, pre-1700 segestayne, 1700s– sexton; N.E.D. (1913) also records a form late Middle English sexteen. β. Middle English sagirstan, Middle English segerstone, Middle English segirstane, Middle English segirston, Middle English segyrstane, Middle English–1500s segerstane, 1500s sagarston, 1500s segerson, 1500s segersten, 1500s segezstane (transmission error), 1500s–1600s sagerston, 1500s–1600s segerston, 1600s seggerston; Scottish pre-1700 sakirstane, pre-1700 segirstane, pre-1700 segyrstane. γ. late Middle English secresten, late Middle English secristane, late Middle English secristeyn, late Middle English secristoun, late Middle English sekresteyn, late Middle English sekyrsteyn, 1500s sacarston, 1500s secristan; also Scottish pre-1700 sachristane, pre-1700 sacrestaine, pre-1700 sacrestane, pre-1700 sagristane, pre-1700 secrastan, pre-1700 secrestan, pre-1700 secrestane. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymons: French segerstain, secretain. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman segerstain, seggerstein, segrestane, sekerstain, secrestane, secrestein, etc., and Middle French secretain (late 11th cent. in Old French (chiefly northern) as segreitein ; French regional (northern) secrétain , ségretain , etc., (central) segrétain ), also Anglo-Norman and Middle French sacrestain (14th cent. or earlier as sacrestayn ) < post-classical Latin sacristanus sacristan n., partly influenced in form by post-classical Latin secretarius sacristan (6th cent.), specific use of secretarius secretary n.¹ Compare post-classical Latin segrestanus (a1128 in a British source, apparently after Anglo-Norman). Earlier currency of the Middle English α. forms is probably implied by post-classical Latin sextanus (1299 in a British source) and Anglo-Norman sextain, sextone (1319 or earlier), unless these reflect a similar phonological development in Anglo-Norman.For borrowing (in both English and French) of the word in its Latin form see sacristan n. Forms of the type sacre- (as opposed to secre- or sacri- ) are recorded at the present entry rather than sacristan n., but could with equal justification be placed at either entry. In form sequestern perhaps by confusion with sequester n.¹ The trisyllabic forms (β. and γ. ) are apparently more common in northern and Scottish texts, but not confined to these. Attested earlier as a surname, e.g. (with γ. forms) Tom. Sekerstein (1203), Godef. le Secresteyn (1255), (with β. forms) Ad. le Segresteyn (1263), Ad. le Segerstein (1296), Thom. Segrestan (1299), and (with α. forms) Will Sextyn (1307), although it is unclear whether these should be interpreted as reflecting the Anglo-Norman or the Middle English word. 1. a. An officer responsible for a church and its property, and for tasks relating to its maintenance or management; (in early use) spec. = sacrist n. 1; (in later use chiefly) an officer of a parish church whose responsibilities have traditionally included bell-ringing and grave-digging.Although the office is typically held by a man, women have been designated sextons since the medieval period; cf. sextoness n. ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > laity > lay functionaries > sexton > [noun] sextona1325 suffragan1437 sacristanc1440 segstar1531 dogwhipper1592 knoller1611 dog-flogger1806 dog-rapper1854 society > faith > church government > laity > lay functionaries > sexton > [noun] > female sextona1325 sextressc1390 sextonessa1450 sextricec1475 butt woman1823 α. a1325 St. Martha (Corpus Cambr. 145) l. 18 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S.-Eng. Legendary (1956) 355 (MED) Mi ring also Ich bitok is þe sextein. c1405 (c1375) G. Chaucer Monk's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 48 Thow art som Officer Som worthy Sexteyn or som Celerer. ?c1450 in G. J. Aungier Hist. & Antiq. Syon Monastery (1840) 284 Sche that is sexteyne moste ordeyn that the awter in the sustres quyer be honestly arayed. 1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 17 Ye Sexteyn of ye chirche to haue..xij d. for his rynggyng. 1498 in F. W. Weaver Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 363 The said cruetts and paxebrede to be in the kepyng of the Sexten of the said priorie. 1537 Whalley Abbey Inv. (P.R.O.) The sequestern that had the keping of al the seid copes. a1539 in Archaeologia (1882) 47 56 That the president of your religion or sextene kepe them [sc. church keys]. 1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) iii. 168 b As a sextine said, a man cannot carie the crosse, and ring the bells altogether. 1593 in J. W. Legg Clerk's Bk. (1903) 81 And also that the same Saxten shall..rynge the fowerthe Bell for a daye Bell. 1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet v. i. 157 I haue been Sexten [1623 sixeteene] heere man and boy thirty yeeres. View more context for this quotation 1638 in J. W. Legg Clerk's Bk. (1903) 99 Whether your Parish Clark or Sexton hath had due regard to the Ornaments of your Church. 1696 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 260 If the said saxton be negligent therein, he shal hereby incurr the forfeiture of his place. 1708 J. Chamberlayne Present State Great Brit. (1755) i. ii. vii. 71 Where the Office of the Clerk and Sexton are distinct, the Minister chooses the former, the people the latter. 1766 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. 395 Parish clerks and sextons are also regarded by the common law, as persons who have freeholds in their offices. 1826 T. Hood Faithless Sally Brown 67 They went and told the sexton, and The sexton toll'd the bell. 1850 S. Judd Richard Edney xl. 403 Mysie was the sexton of this Church,—she opened the house, swept the floor, and lighted the candles. 1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt I. i. 18 The sexton waited in the belfry ready to set the one bell in joyful agitation just at the right moment. 1937 Lima (Ohio) News 10 Mar. 24/2 Mrs. Minnie D. Tucker, the present sexton or ‘sextoness’ of the Oakwood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, has lived in a cemetery all her life. 1992 R. MacNeil Burden of Desire ii. 111 Next he met the sexton, the cathedral's handyman, caretaker, furnace attendant, and snow shoveler. β. 1367 in B. Thuresson Middle Eng. Occup. Terms (1950) 180 (MED) Petr. de Sutton, segerstane.a1450 Rule St. Benet (Vesp.) (1902) l. 1385 (MED) Es it ordand wele Þat subpriores & segerstone And oþer offecers..Sal non be chosin bi no way Bot als þe priores wil puruay.a1450 Rule St. Benet (Vesp.) (1902) l. 1472 The Priores & oþer nane Aw for to ches a segerstane To ring þe bels.1546 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1895) II. 353 Yerlie to the segezstane [read segerstane] and belman, iiij^s. vj^d.1548 in W. Page Certificates Chantries County of York (1895) II. 530 In the saide collegiate churche bee..fower segersons.1575–6 in J. Raine Depositions Courts Durham (1845) 280 Being..sagarston of the same church 20 yeres togither.1637 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 100 For the seggerston, 3s.1687 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 255 That John Riddam shall make and assist the sagerston to make graves.γ. 1440 in A. H. Thompson Visitations Relig. Houses Diocese Lincoln (1927) III. 350 We wylle and ordeyne that the sekresteyn that is for the tyme hafe alle the advayle of the trees that growe in your kyrke yerde.1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 26 To ye Secristeyn, and to the Priour of Dusgylde.?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 780/16 Hic et hec secrista, a sekyrsteyn.a1513 H. Bradshaw Lyfe St. Werburge (1521) ii. xix. sig. r.ii Werburge appered to the secristan alone.1537 Aberdeen Reg. (1844) I. 151 Gyf the secrastan preevis nocht his warning.1597 in J. Barmby Churchwardens' Accts. Pittington (1888) 127 Item the sacarston for his fourth quarter's wages, xij d. b. figurative. Frequently attributive. ΚΠ a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iii. i. 250 Old Time the clocke setter, y^t bald sexton Time. 1651 Bp. J. Taylor Rule & Exercises Holy Dying i. 4 See, how the old Sexton Time throws up the earth, and digs a Grave where we must lay our sins, or our sorrows. 1835 G. Darley Nepenthe 34 Nor floods of dust thy corse entomb Heaped o'er thee by the sexton winds! 1867 S. W. Baker Nile Tributaries (1872) i. 7 The usual sextons were the crows. 1903 B. Carman Poems I. 125 The shambling sea is a sexton old, And well his work is done. With an equal grave for lord and knave, He buries them every one. 1995 L. Roy Humming Birds II. l. 9 I talk to the sexton moon and wish her well. 2. A warden, a custodian; a guardian or keeper of something, esp. a non-Christian place of worship. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > one who looks after > guardian or custodian > custodian of building wardenc1290 sextonc1503 concierge1646 custodian1781 c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxi/2 O tho most noble bishop..thou art y^e clere lyght of thy feyth & y^e sexten of y^e crysten relygion. 1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis iv. 79 Seixten of Hesperides Sinagog [L. Hesperidum templi custos]. 1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. ii. xii. 308 Varro..writeth, that Hercules his Sextaine [Fr. secrestin][etc.]. 1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 39 The warden and Sextaine of that ground or soyle [L. aedituum soli], which Augustus of happy memory touched first. 1712 E. Byss tr. F. Charpentier Life Socrates 183 in tr. Xenophon Memorable Things Socrates He left the part of Diana in the Hands of Megabyzus, Sexton of the Temple of Ephesus. 1824 T. Taylor tr. Pausanius Descr. Greece (new ed.) I. x. 152 Into this temple of Venus, a woman who performs the office of a sexton, and who is forbidden to associate with a man, and a virgin who acts as an annual priestess, are alone permitted to enter. 1895 F. Granger Worship of Romans 241 The poverty of the Roman mythology is largely due to the dull fancy of the Roman sexton. 1978 Amer. Jrnl. Archaeol. 82 568 Phaethon as night sexton of the temple of Aphrodite, a role assigned to him by Hesiod. 2002 K. Hibino & A. Cummings tr. K. Mokuami Three Kichisas in J. R. Brandon & S. L. Leiter Kabuki Plays on Stage III. 263 I shaved my head, and now I'm the sexton at this temple. †3. The custodian of the Pope's chapel. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > pope > offices or officials > [noun] > sacristan sexton1667 1667 P. A. tr. S. Cavalli Short Acct. Pope Alexander VII 25 The Sandals were taken up by the hand of the Lord Sexton. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Office of Sexton of the Pope's Chapel is particularly affixed to the Order of the Hermits of Saint Augustin: He is generally a Bishop... He takes the Title of Prefect of the Pope's Sacristy. 1856 L. M. Sargent Dealings with Dead I. 51 When..the Pope was desperately sick, the sexton gave him extreme unction. 4. = sexton beetle n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Staphylinoidea > family Silphidae > member of genus Necrophorus sexton beetle1840 sexton1846 gravedigger1847 necrophore1890 1836 Dublin Rev. May 14 He [sc. Gleditsch] concluded, therefore, that the beetles were the sextons on this occasion.] 1846 Merry's Museum June 183/2 We may mention something about the grave-diggers or sextons, commonly called burying-beetles. 1858 H. N. Humphreys Butterfly Vivarium xii. 235 The Burying Beetles, sometimes called the ‘Sextons’, exhibit a very interesting kind of instinct in providing for their larvae. 1885 Riverside Nat. Hist. (1888) II. 385 Necrophorus... These beetles are often called sextons or grave-diggers. 1919 A. Teixeira de Mattos tr. J. H. Fabre Glow-worm & Other Beetles xi. 301 To go in search of the sexton, who exists only here and there in the country-side, would be nearly always a waste of time. 2009 N. Cave Death Bunny Munro (2010) xv. 124 He had all sort of beetles—Devil's Coach-horses,..Red Soldiers and Sextons, Red Cardinals and Stag Beetles and his favourite, the Rhino Beetle. Compounds sexton beetle n. a beetle of the genus Nicrophorus or subfamily Nicrophorinae (family Silphidae) of typically large, somewhat flattened beetles, often black with orange bands, which bury the carcasses of small mammals and birds to provide food for their larvae; a burying beetle. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Staphylinoidea > family Silphidae > member of genus Necrophorus sexton beetle1840 sexton1846 gravedigger1847 necrophore1890 1840 E. Blyth et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom 516 Necrophorus Fabr... The instinctive habits which these insects possess of burying small quadrupeds, has caused them to be named Sexton, or Burying Beetles. 1871 Times 19 Dec. 4/4 We light upon an admirable account of the Sexton Beetle taken from Mr. E. Newman's Letters of Rusticus. a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 866 Fifty of these sexton-beetles, some in funereal black and other species are more cheerfully attired, have been found working underneath a dead crow; and unless they are numerous they do not succeed with a largish animal. 1995 M. R. Berenbaum Bugs in Syst. iv. 61 Immature sexton beetles feed on the decaying flesh of dead birds and mammals, which is provided for them by their parents. 1996 A. Theroux Secondary Colors 73 The black, or sexton, beetle Nicrophorus has bright orange ‘hands’ emblazoned on its wing cover. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.a1325
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