vestry

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun in the Protestant Episcopal Church: a committee elected by the congregation to work with the churchwardens in managing the temporal affairs of the church
noun a room in a church where sacred vessels and vestments are kept or meetings are held

From Anglo-Norman vesterie, from Old French vestiaire (“room for vestments, dressing room”), from Latin vestiarium (“wardrobe”). Doublet of vestiary.

The vestry was on fire! — The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins
"Yes, lanthorns in the vestry." — The String of Pearls; Or, The Barber of Fleet Street. A Domestic Romance., Thomas Peckett Prest
Jadwiga entered through the vestry door also. — The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance, Henryk Sienkiewicz

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