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vestry

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
ves·try  (vstr)
n. pl. ves·tries
1. A room in or attached to a church where the clergy put on their vestments and where these robes and other sacred objects are stored; a sacristy.
2. A room in a church used for meetings and classes.
3. A committee of members elected to administer the temporal affairs of a parish.
4. A business meeting of parishioners in a parish.

[Middle English vestrie, probably from Anglo-Norman *vesterie, alteration of Old French vestiarie; see vestiary.]

vestry [ˈvɛstrɪ]
n pl -tries
1. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) a room in or attached to a church in which vestments, sacred vessels, etc., are kept
2. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) a room in or attached to some churches, used for Sunday school, meetings, etc.
3. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) Church of England
a.  a meeting of all the members of a parish or their representatives, to transact the official business of the parish
b.  the body of members meeting for this; the parish council
4. (Christianity / Ecclesiastical Terms) Episcopalian (US) and Anglican (Canadian) Churches a committee of vestrymen chosen by the congregation to manage the temporal affairs of their church
[probably from Old French vestiarie; see vest]
vestral  adj

Vestry in the Church of England, the body which administers the affairs of the church or parish, hence, the collective body of churchwardens, 1672.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.vestryvestry - in the Protestant Episcopal Church: a committee elected by the congregation to work with the churchwardens in managing the temporal affairs of the church
commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle
vestryman - a man who is a member of a church vestry
vestrywoman - a woman who is a member of a church vestry
2.vestryvestry - a room in a church where sacred vessels and vestments are kept or meetings are held
church building, church - a place for public (especially Christian) worship; "the church was empty"
room - an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling; "the rooms were very small but they had a nice view"
Translations
vestry [ˈvestrɪ] Nsacristía f
vestry [ˈvɛstri] nsacristie f
vestry
nSakristei f
vestry [ˈvɛstrɪ] nsagrestia
vestry [ˈvɛstrɪ] nsagrestia


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
I stopped him on our way out to take advantage of my uncle's advice; in other words, to see how I looked in the glass over the vestry fireplace.
Schemes have indeed been laid in the vestry which would hardly disgrace the conclave.
He was a very good old fellow, in his familiar way; and having stirred the vestry fire, he looked round the shelves of registers for a particular volume.
 
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