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plural parsons
An Anglican cleric having full legal control of a parish under ecclesiastical law; a rector. examples
A Protestant minister. examples
(now chiefly historical) A Roman Catholic priest of an independent parish church. quotations
a lewde curate,A parson benyfycedBut nothynge well advysed.
c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, page 62, lines 35–37