exegete means A person skilled in exegesis; an interpreter of texts, difficult passages, law, oracles, and similar obscure or esoteric sources. It carries an Arena rating of 1711, earned across 31 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, exegete ranks #2,866 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #2,979 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #3,626 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #3,626 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
exegete is pronounced /ˈɛksɪˌdʒiːt/.
Why “exegete” is a great word
EXEGETE — [Noun] A person skilled in the critical interpretation or explanation of texts, especially of sacred or obscure writings. From the Ancient Greek ἐξηγητής (exēgētḗs, "expounder, interpreter"), from ἐξηγεῖσθαι (exēgeîsthai, "to lead out, explain"). Unlike an eisegete, who reads personal bias into a text, or a hermeneut, who studies the general theory of interpretation, the exegete is a forensic guide whose work is extraction. This is the monastic scribe tracing a faint gloss in the margin; the philologist parsing a dead metaphor back to its living root; the classicist untangling a corrupted line in a crumbling codex—a solemn, tactile faith that meaning, however buried, can be led into the light.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἐξηγητής (exēgētḗs, “expounder, interpreter”).
noun
- A person skilled in exegesis; an interpreter of texts, difficult passages, law, oracles, and similar obscure or esoteric sources.e.g.“A text that could not speak to the present was dead, and the exegete had a duty to revive it.” — 2009, Karen Armstrong, The Case for God, Vintage, published 2010, page 94:
verb
- (chiefly religion) To interpret; to perform an exegesis on.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- exegesis 77% match — A critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. vs exegete →
- exegetics 70% match — The science or study of interpretation or exegesis. vs exegete →
- epexegetical 64% match — Relating to epexegesis. vs exegete →
- hermeneut 63% match — A practitioner of hermeneutics, someone who interprets a text, especially a holy text. vs exegete →
- eisegete 62% match — A person who places meaning on a text which is not originally or inherently present in the text itself. vs exegete →
- eisegesis 61% match — An interpretation, especially of Scripture, that reflects the personal ideas or viewpoint of the interpreter; reading something into a text that is not there. vs exegete →
- epexegetic 60% match — Serving as an epexegesis or as epexegeses. vs exegete →
- epexegesis 59% match — An additional explanation or explanatory material. vs exegete →