Parson

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A person who represents a parish in its ecclesiastical and corporate capacities; hence, the rector or incumbent of a parochial church, who has full possession of all the rights thereof, with the cure of souls.

2. Any clergyman having ecclesiastical preferment; one who is in orders, or is licensed to preach; a preacher. He hears the parson pray and preach. Longfellow. Parson bird (Zoöl.), a New Zealand bird (Prosthemadera Novæseelandiæ) remarkable for its powers of mimicry and its ability to articulate words. Its color is glossy black, with a curious tuft of long, curly, white feathers on each side of the throat. It is often kept as a cage bird.