vestry
noun/ˈvɛstɹi/
Etymology From Anglo-Norman vesterie, from Old French vestiaire (“room for vestments, dressing room”), from Latin vestiarium (“wardrobe”). Doublet of vestiary.
1
A room in a church where the clergy put on their vestments and where these are stored; also used for meetings and classes.
- The choirboys change into their cassocks in the vestry.
- What a day, eh? Demmy, it's like the commencement of the rainy season in Bengal. But you'll find my carriage is watertight. Come along, my mother and Emmy are in the vestry.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
2
An assembly of persons (ad hoc or recurrent) who manage parochial affairs; so called because usually held in a vestry.
3
A committee of parishioners elected to administer the temporal affairs of a parish.
- Near-synonyms: parochial church council, PCC, parish council (ecclesiastical sense, uncommon)
- The vestry meets on the first Tuesday of every month.
- Derived terms
- born in the vestry, select vestry, vestry clerk, vestrydom, vestryism, vestryman
- Related terms
- vestibule, vestibulum, vesture, churchwarden