churchwarden

[ church-wawr-dn ]

noun

1. Anglican Church. a lay officer who looks after the secular affairs of the church, and who, in England, is the legal representative of the parish.
2. Episcopal Church. a lay church officer who, with other members of the vestry, is in charge of the temporal management of the parish.
3. a long-stemmed clay pipe for smoking.

churchwarden

/ ˌtʃɜːtʃˈwɔːdən /

noun

1. Church of England Episcopal Church one of two assistants of a parish priest who administer the secular affairs of the church
2. a long-stemmed tobacco pipe made of clay

Word History and Origins

Origin of churchwarden¹

1400–50; late Middle English chirche wardeyn

Example Sentences

An author was murdered in a Buckinghamshire village in 2015 by a churchwarden who went on to defraud the victim's elderly neighbour.

From BBC

A churchwarden who murdered an author to inherit his estate has been jailed for a minimum of 36 years.

From BBC

"Some of the old guard were worried about theft, but we were determined to be open and available to the whole community," says churchwarden Robert Allen.

From BBC

But the former churchwarden had a sinister project: to befriend vulnerable individuals and get them to change their wills.

From BBC

A churchwarden who conned an author into including him in his will has been found guilty of murder.

From BBC