Definition of "priesthood" []

• The character, office, or vocation of a priest. (noun)
• The clergy. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A must-read paper produced by Human Life International Research Director Brian Clowes has closed the book on the question of whether homosexuality in the priesthood is a root cause of the clerical sexual abuse crisis."
• "But this our high priest continues for ever, and his priesthood is aparabaton -- an unchangeable one, that does not pass from one to another, as the former did; it is always in the same hand."
• "The priesthood is a unique vocation, and it is unlike any career or profession."