Etymograph

English

sexton

Sexton comes from Latin sacer ‘sacred’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacer1‘sacred’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500sacristanus1
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400segrestien1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1828sexton1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English sexton
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “The whole village poured out to gaze on these…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsacerWiktionary, English sexton‘sacred’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500sacristanusWiktionary, English sexton
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400segrestienWiktionary, English sexton
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1828sextonWiktionary, English sexton. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “The whole village poured out to gaze on these…”

Linked words

through Latin sacer ‘sacred’

sacrament, sacrilege, 8 more

Today it means

noun A church official who looks after a church building and its graveyard and may act as a gravedigger and bell ringer.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sexton”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin sacer / sexton

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