29 June 2017
sexton
[sek-stuh n]
noun
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.
Origin of sexton
Middle English, Anglo-French
1275-1325; Middle English sexteyn, sekesteyn, syncopated variant of segerstane, secristeyn < Anglo-French segerstaine sacristan
Related forms
sextonship, noun
undersexton, noun
Can be confused
sextant, sextet, sexton.
Examples from the Web for sexton
Contemporary Examples
Last September, sexton pleaded guilty in New York state court to money laundering and agreed to forfeit $600,000.
Las Vegas Betting Scandal Earns $5.5 Million Fine but the Boss Walks
John L. Smith
January 20, 2014
Historical Examples
“No, old chap,” cried North, slapping the sexton on the shoulder in a jocular way.
The Man with a Shadow
George Manville Fenn
Why, here in Denmark: I have been sexton here, man and boy, thirty years.
Hamlet
William Shakespeare
Anagram
ox tens
Today’s quote
Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don’t give up the fight.
– Bob Marley
On this day
29 June 67AD – death of Paul the Apostle (formerly Saul of Tarsus), one of the most influential and important figures of the Apostolic Age. In the mid-30s to the mid-50s he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. He was both a Jew and a Roman citizen. As Saul of Tarsus he often persecuted Christians. He had an epiphany and renamed himself Paul, going on to write 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament. Born in 5AD.
29 June 1888 – birth of Joseph Theodore Leslie (Squizzy) Taylor, Australian gangster, earned money from sly-grog, two-up, illegal bookmaking, extortion, prostitution, cocaine dealing. Died 27 October 1927 from a gunshot wound inflicted by ‘Snowy’ Cutmore.
29 June 1936 – birth of Eddie Mabo, campaigner for indigenous land rights in the Torres Strait. Successfully challenged the concept of ‘terra nullius‘ which was enshrined in federal law and meant ‘uninhabited land‘. The High Court ruled in favour of Eddie Mabo’s challenge and overturned terra nullius. The Mabo Decision resulted in legal recognition of indigenous rights to native land title. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) awarded Eddie Mabo the Human Rights Medal in 1992, along with those who assisted in the case, Reverend Dave Passi, Sam Passi (deceased), James Rice (deceased), Celuia Mapo Salee (deceased) and Barbara Hocking. Died 21 January 1992.