psychopomp

[ sahy-koh-pomp ]

noun

1. a person who conducts spirits or souls to the other world, as Hermes or Charon.

Word History and Origins

Origin of psychopomp¹

First recorded in 1860–65, psychopomp is from the Greek word psȳchopompós conductor of souls. See psycho-, pomp

Example Sentences

That’s when he is greeted, in a kind of nightclub limbo, by Chimney Man — so called because this forbidding psychopomp, played by the fascinatingly strict Billy Porter, sweeps souls to their destination.

From New York Times

Well, really two, if you count the supernatural one: a psychopomp, or collector of souls of the recently dead.

From New York Times

He’s focusing on “psychopomp work” – the guiding of newly dead souls into the afterlife.

From The Guardian

Those same people call her a psychopomp — someone who acts as a link between this world and the next for others.

From Los Angeles Times

There were ogres and villains, psychopomps, messengers, and mentors.

From Forbes