Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A spiritual adviser, often a monk or religious hermit, in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a religious adviser (not necessarily a priest) in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Etymologies
- Russian, elder, starets, from Old Church Slavonic starĭtsĭ, elder, from starŭ, old; see stā- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The Abbot of that monastery was a gentleman by birth, a learned writer and a starets, that is, he belonged to that succession of monks originating in Walachia who each choose a director and teacher whom they implicitly obey.”
“Well, the starets tells him about the Jesus Prayer first of all.”
j.d. salinger | 1919 – 2010 « poetry dispatch & other notes from the underground
“Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov is writing about that familiar figure of the old Russia, the starets, or holy man: 'A starets takes your soul, your will, into his soul and will.”
“In choosing a starets you renounce your own will and surrender it to him in perfect submission, absolute self-abnegation. ”
“Dostoevsky insists that the institution of the starets in imperial Russia came from the East, 'the practice of a thousand years.”
“This Superior had been a disciple of the starets Ambrose, who was a disciple of Makarius, who was a disciple of the starets Leonid, who was a disciple of Paussy Velichkovsky.”
“Sergius obeyed the starets, showed his letter to the Abbot, and having obtained his permission, gave up his cell, handed all his possessions over to the monastery, and set out for the Tambov hermitage.”
“He wished to refuse but the starets ordered him to accept the appointment.”
“This was the result of his consciousness of humility, and the certainty that whatever he had to do, being fixed by the starets, was right.”
“He did so, and took leave of the starets and moved to the other monastery.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘starets’.
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phrontistery-s
from phrontistery.info
syzygy, systyle, systematology, systatic, syssitia, syrtic, systaltic, syrt, syrinx, syphilomania, syphilology, syntrierarch and 1593 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
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Words of Standing
steed, stool, estancia, stage, stance, staunch, stanch, stanchion, stanza, stative, stator, stay and 180 more...
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persnickety parlance
behoove, ebullient, insouciant, insipient, froth, quandary, quixotic, tendril, maktub, furrow, furl, anastrophe and 1076 more...
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☯ ☥ ✡ ☪ ✟
words dealing with magic, mythology, religion, spirituality.
lapsarian, seraphim, antediluvian, prelapsarian, geloscopy, eschatological, eschatology, iconoclast, ouroboros, songline, surya, theodicy and 10 more...
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religion
Tweets
Looking for tweets for starets.

reesetee Plural is startsy. Jun 11, 2010