Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A vessel in which incense is burned, especially during religious services.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A vessel in which incense is burned before an altar. Censers are now usually made of metal in the shape of a cup with a perforated cover, and contain burning charcoal or other material capable of producing sufficient heat to burn the fragrant gums used as incense. The censer is swung in the hand by chains. In ancient Roman usage incense was carried to the altar in a square box called an acerra, from which it was taken and sprinkled on the flame. A similar practice prevailed among the Greeks. The ecclesiastical term for a censer is thurible. The only distinct biblical precepts regarding the use of the censer are found in Num. iv. 14 and Lev. xvi. 12. According to Bingham, neither incense nor censers were used in the Christian church during the first three centuries. They are now used in the Greek Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Catholic Apostolic Church, and in some Anglican and other churches.
- n. A fire-pan in which perfumes were burned to sweeten the atmosphere, having its lid perforated, and sometimes decorated with figures and designs in open-work.
- n. One who formerly paid cense-money. See censure, n., 5.
Wiktionary
- n. An ornamental container for burning incense, especially during religious ceremonies.
- n. A person who censes, a person who perfumes with incense
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A vessel for perfumes; esp. one in which incense is burned.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a container for burning incense (especially one that is swung on a chain in a religious ritual)
Etymologies
- From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman censier, from encensier, from encens ("incense") (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, short for encenser, from Anglo-Norman encensier, from encens, incense, from Old French; see incense2. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
““It's called a censer and it's silver, not steel,” he says, just to show how smart he is.”
“A thurible (for my non-high-church readers) is also called a censer, the incense pot on the end of chains, used in worship.”
“A censer is a container in which incense is burned.”
Simon & Schuster: Essential Guide to Business Style and Usage
“A censer is a metal vessel with a pierced lid in which incense is burned during church services.”
“The censer is a piece of church furniture in constant use in the”
“Their figures moving under the arbour of old trees were like red and silver poppies blown by the wind, or wonderful tropical birds astray in the woods: and a glint of sunshine striking the censer was a thin chain of gold linking it to the sky.”
“(Statue of Shamash), thou shalt place thereon 4 jugs of sesame wine, thou shalt set thereon 3 x 12 loaves of wheat, thou shalt add a mixture of honey and butter and sprinkle with salt: a table thou shalt place behind the censer which is before the Storm-God (Statue of Adad) and behind the censer which is before Merodach.”
“A table thou shalt place behind the censer which is before the Sun-God”
“Greek word thumiaterion, here rendered "censer," may more appropriately denote, as in the margin of Revised Version, "the altar of incense.”
“the holy place"; but as in 2Ch 26: 19, and Eze 8: 11, "censer": so”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘censer’.
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phrontistery - c
from phrontistery.info
caballine, cabas, cable, caboched, cabochon, caboose, cabotage, cabré, cabrie, cabriole, cabriolet, cacaesthesia and 1298 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Williamsburg Spelling Bee
conusable, murenger, ohmmeter, quincunx, schipperke, mephitis, acharya, dysthymia, firkin, ciborium, fusillade, quinquennially and 23 more...
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remnants of a catholic childhood
extreme unction, viaticum, maundy thursday, spy wednesday, good friday, papabile, monstrance, septuagesima, monsignor, thurible, chasuble, alb and 110 more...
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words found to be generally pleasing
alabaster, mahogany, camphor, coalesce, spire, portmanteau, gadabout, palaver, dolor, dour, dun, luminesce and 610 more...
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Joe's list
Fissiparous Weekly Standard Nigeria a fissiparous country 3/2012
fissiparous, inchoate, punctilious, synecdoche, apocryphal, superadd, pedant, pedagogy, astigmatic, inter alia, aphoristically, eponymous and 131 more...
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caspermilktoast's Words
frenetic, farrago, fandango, ensemble, assay, emulsion, taut, winnow, ridonkulous, ginormous, frisson, idee fixe and 181 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (C)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
cacophony, cad, cajole, calamity, camomile, camphor, candlemas, candy apple, canopy, canticle, caparison, caravan and 304 more...
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azd's Words
adamantine, abatial, ablate, ablative, abrogate, accretive, acromegaly, acrostic, actinism, actinic, acuity, adduce and 968 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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words
diplopic, dolorous, farrago, surety, scuttlebutt, Arabesque, infarct, neurasthenia, lambent, expurge, univocal, simper and 395 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, C
cryptoxanthin, convent, calcar, chuckle, campanile, covet, complexion, campestral, chirography, counterscarp, caliginous, catabolism and 722 more...
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Next!
salvific, redemptive, salvic, roil, changeling, barrow, burro, sow, swath, haymow, shock, sheaves and 190 more...
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He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter
words evocative of Christianity
frankincense, myrrh, messiah, crèche, pulpit, sacrament, eucharist, nephilim, censer, vespers, compline, sexton and 44 more...
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Personal glossary
pasquinade, dilatory, afflatus, expatiate, cambric, mantua, marplot, henotic, brio, hebetude, pertinacious, demijohn and 79 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for censer.
bilby "But only two priests were in the sacristy, one wearing blue-and-gold vestments and a second priest dressed in a long white surplice, who was trying to fix a silver censer that seemed to be broken."
- 'The Colour Of Blood', Brian Moore. Jan 3, 2008
reesetee Fellow inappropriate gigglers--no wonder I feel at home here. ;-) Jul 28, 2007
oroboros And I can sympathize! Jul 28, 2007
slumry I can empathize! Jul 26, 2007
reesetee Not so bad, slumry. I once got the giggles during a funeral.... Jul 26, 2007
slumry Ah yes, that phenomenon, she blushed, recalling the upwelling of giggles at her own wedding, which was fortunately a tiny wedding. Jul 26, 2007
reesetee No, no--that wasn't directed at you (or anyone else, for that matter)! Just kidding around. The visual is pretty funny. Next time I'm in a church, I'm sure I'll start laughing and won't be able to stop.
And while we're on the subject, there must be a word for that phenomenon--uncontrollable laughing where laughing is not exactly acceptable. :-) Jul 26, 2007
slumry Yes, my mother always warned me to avoid sacrilege. Chastened. Jul 26, 2007
reesetee Both, I'd imagine. Yikes. This is getting a bit too kinky for me. ;-) Jul 26, 2007
slumry A funny image, R. . .I wonder what the priest's motivation in swinging censors would be. . .would such swinging punish the censor or the congregants? "Church was grim today. I was censor-whipped." Jul 26, 2007
uselessness "Put me down, you froozing motherlover!" Jul 26, 2007
reesetee Better than censors being swung by a priest.... Jul 25, 2007
slumry I swear, every time I read about cencers, they are being swung by the priest. Jul 25, 2007
reesetee Very true. Amazing what one letter will do to change a word. :-) Jul 24, 2007
arby A much nicer word than censor! Jul 24, 2007
reesetee A vessel, usually covered, in which incense is burned, especially during religious services. Also thurible. Jul 19, 2007