ostiary

os·ti·ar·y  (st-r)

n. pl. os·ti·ar·ies

1. Roman Catholic Church One who is ordained in the lowest of the former minor orders.

2. A church doorkeeper.

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[Middle English hostiary, from Latin stirius, doorkeeper, from stium, door, from s, mouth; see s- in Indo-European roots.]

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ostiary [ˈɒstɪərɪ]

n pl -aries

(Christianity / Roman Catholic Church) RC Church another word for porter² [4]

[from Latin ostiārius doorkeeper, from ostium door]

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ostiary

1. a member of the lowest-ranking of the four minor orders in Roman Catholicism.
2. a doorkeeper of a church.

See also: Catholicism

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	ostiary - the lowest of the minor Holy Orders in the unreformed Western Church but now suppressed by the Roman Catholic Church ostiarius, doorkeeper clergyman, man of the cloth, reverend - a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church Holy Order, Order - (usually plural) the status or rank or office of a Christian clergyman in an ecclesiastical hierarchy; "theologians still disagree over whether `bishop' should or should not be a separate Order"
	2.	ostiary - someone who guards an entrance       door guard, doorman, hall porter, porter, gatekeeper, doorkeeper commissionaire - a uniformed doorman guard - a person who keeps watch over something or someone night porter - a porter on duty during the night ticket collector, ticket taker - someone who is paid to admit only those who have purchased tickets