thu·ri·fer

(tho͝or′ə-fər)

An acolyte who carries a thurible.

[Latin thūrifer, incense-bearing : thūs, thūr-, incense; see thurible + -fer, -fer.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

thurifer

(ˈθjʊərɪfə)

(Ecclesiastical Terms) a person appointed to carry the censer at religious ceremonies

[C19: from Latin, from tūs incense + ferre to carry]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

thu•ri•fer

(ˈθʊər ə fər)

n.

a person who carries the thurible in religious ceremonies.

[1850–55; < New Latin, n. use of Latin t(h)ūrifer incense-bearing =t(h)ūr-, s. of t(h)ūs incense + -i- -i- + -fer -fer]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

thurifer - an acolyte who carries a thurible

acolyte - someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches

Translations

thurifer

[ˈθjʊərɪfəʳ] N → monaguillo m que lleva el incensario

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Thurifer if Belgravia is not a sounding brass and Tyburnia a tinkling cymbal.

View in context

From an early age he regularly attended Clumber Catholic Chapel where he became a boy acolyte and later, the adult thurifer.

'He is obviously British to all intents and purposes' Clarification over Germanic sounding name

His name was Ken Smith and he was the thurifer most Sundays.

Memories of the St Alban's Processions

John, Robert Small as Thurifer, and Eric Strand as banner bearer.

In memory of Audrey Ekdahl Davidson

Euphorbiaceae 60 Croton thurifer Kunth Euphorbiaceae x 61 Ditaxis dioica H.

Vegetacion lenosa, endemismos y estado de conservacion en los bosques estacionalmente secos de Jaen, Peru

He acted as Server or Acolyte or Thurifer every Sunday with an eagle eye to keep the ceremonial up to scratch.

The Revd. A. J. M. (Max) Saint: 1910-2007

Ritter) Buxb., Croton thurifer Kunth y Caesalpinia sp.

Diversidad, composicion floristica y endemismos en los bosques estacionalmente secos alterados del distrito de Jaen, Peru

After lighting the altar lamp, for instance, the thurifer gently sweeps his hands near the flame to bring "light" to his eyes, mind and heart.

A visit to Kurisumala: two conventional Catholics and an unconventional Indian ashram

For those who don't take their church that High, the boat boy is the acolyte who carries the incense, accompanying the thurifer, who wields the incense-burning censer, alongside other acolytes such as the crucifer and the bell ringer.

What Auden believed