What is a dignity? Some believe that this word refers to all clergymen. In fact, this is not so - among them, some have no dignity. And he also has another meaning. Information about the dignity, as well as its origin and synonyms will be set out in the article.
First interpretation
About the first meaning of the word “dignity” in the dictionary it is said that it is a title that is associated with an honorable, high position.
Examples of use:
- If you are a foreigner, then you have nothing to wait in the service of the duke - no money, no land, no high rank: all this will go only to his own, only to the sons of his native land.
- Not interested in high dignity, he chose a modest form of service, wanting to bring benefits in his place.
- The adviser already regretted that he had taken on the service of this arrogant retired warrior, who, not having as high a rank as himself, dared to indicate what he should do.
- You rejoiced in vain, because before your eyes to a high rank a talented writer, author of beautiful novels, is presented, and now he will completely disappear in the service.
Another meaning of "sana"
Against this word in the explanatory dictionary is marked "religious." San is the title given to the ministers of a religious cult in Christianity. Examples:
- The Fathers of the Council, St. Nicholas, was immediately deprived of his dignity and imprisoned, but on the same night many of them had a vision in which the gospel of God was submitted to Jesus Christ himself. And then Nicholas the Wonderworker was taken out of prison and received back the episcopal dignity.
- Archbishop Hilarion congratulated the rector of the Paris Theological Seminary on the anniversary of his service, finding special welcome words for this.
- For Roman Catholics in the Vatican, male priests do not allow women to be ordained sacred, thereby depriving them of leadership in decision-making.
- The monks lived in a monastery and were ordained there, which was done without the permission of the monastery, without holding the usual ceremony, which concerns the settlement.
- According to the definition of the Synod, the department’s chairman must be a bishop with the rank of one, as well as the status of permanent member of the Synod.
For a better understanding of what a dignity is, it is worth considering synonyms for this word.
Synonyms
There are a lot of synonyms for the word "san". Among them are:
- rank;
- rank;
- position;
- rank;
- title;
- high position;
- dignity;
- Hierarchy;
- canon;
- a priest;
- the patriarch;
- bishop;
- prelate;
- cardinal;
- rector;
- Metropolitan
- archimandrite;
- Archbishop
- clerk;
- bishop;
- Catholicos
- presbyter;
- archpriest.
Etymology
Related to “san” are the nouns “dignitary”, “posture”. In Old Russian there is a noun "san", and in Old Slavonic - "san".
The question of the origin of the word today is controversial. There is a variant of the fact that, due to its insignificant distribution in the Slavic languages, it was most likely borrowed from the Danube-Bulgarian, where it means "san, glory, a large number." Also in North Turkic there is the verb sanamak, which means "to appreciate."
But there is another opinion, according to which san is akin to the ancient Indian sānu, which translates as "height, point, peak".
Some researchers believe that the lexeme under study is closer to the ancient Indian verb san - “to earn”, as well as to the Avestan (one of the oldest Iranian languages) han in the meaning of “earn, win” or spānah - “holiness”.
In Orthodoxy and in Catholicism
In conclusion, studying the question of what the dignity is, it would be advisable to consider what it happens in two Christian denominations.
In Orthodoxy, the clergy are divided into:
- black, vowed to chastity, monastic;
- white, which can be either unmarried or married.
It is led by a clergyman belonging to the black clergy.
In Catholicism, where the earthly head of the church is the Pope, there is also a division into black clergy (monastic) and white (diocesan). In the Catholic Church, where the Latin rite is observed, the diocesan clergy must observe celibacy, as well as monks. As for the Eastern Catholic churches, there the representatives of the white clergy cannot be married.