presbyter

UK: /ˈprɛzbɪtə/ US: (prez′bi tər, pres′-)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pres•by•ter  (prez′bi tər, pres′-), n. 

1. Religion (in the early Christian church) an office bearer who exercised teaching, priestly, and administrative functions.
2. Religion (in hierarchical churches) a priest.
3. Religion an elder in a Presbyterian church.

• Greek presbýteros, equivalent. to présby(s) old + -teros comparative suffix
• Late Latin, noun, nominal use of the adjective, adjectival: older
• 1590–1600;

pres•byt•er•al  (prez bit′ər əl, pres-), adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

presbyter / ˈprɛzbɪtə/ noun

1. an elder of a congregation in the early Christian Church
2. (in some Churches having episcopal politics) an official who is subordinate to a bishop and has administrative, teaching, and sacerdotal functions
3. (in some hierarchical Churches) another name for priest

Etymology: 16th Century: from Late Latin, from Greek presbuteros an older man, from presbus old man