starets

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

starets

PRONUNCIATION:

(STAHR-its, -yits) plural startsy (STAHRT-see)

MEANING:

noun: A religious teacher or adviser.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Russian starets (elder). In the Eastern Orthodox Church a starets is a spiritual adviser who is not necessarily a priest.

USAGE:

"Grigori Rasputin, was neither mad nor a monk, but an unconventional starets."
Cecilia Rasmussen; Shadowed by Rasputin's Evil Reputation; Los Angeles Times; Oct 10, 1999.

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A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule. -Michael Pollan, author, journalism professor (b. 1955)