intercessor
/ˈɪntə(ɹ)ˌsɛsə(ɹ)/
intercessor means A person who intercedes; a mediator; one who reconciles enemies, or pleads for another. It carries an Arena rating of 1617, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, intercessor ranks #248 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words, #337 of 14,308 for Most Malleable Words, #371 of 14,414 for Most Elegant Words, #770 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words.
intercessor is pronounced /ˈɪntə(ɹ)ˌsɛsə(ɹ)/.
Why “intercessor” is a great word
A person who intervenes or mediates on behalf of another, especially by pleading or petitioning. From the Latin intercessor, from intercēdō ('to intervene'), from inter ('between') + cēdō ('to go, yield'), a word first attested in English in the late 15th century. Unlike a mediator, a neutral arbiter of terms, or an advocate, a public champion for a cause, an intercessor is one who moves *for* someone, carrying a plea into the space between conflicting wills. It is the whispered petition in a dim chapel, the friend who speaks your case to an angry parent, the humble envoy standing before a throne—a figure defined by the vulnerable, essential act of bearing another's burden into the presence of power, a fragile bridge of words stretched across a chasm of need.
Etymology
Late 15th century, from Latin intercessor, from Latin intercēdō, from inter (“between”) + cēdō (“to go”) (English cede), literally “go-between”.
noun
- A person who intercedes; a mediator; one who reconciles enemies, or pleads for another.
- A person who intercedes; a mediator; one who reconciles enemies, or pleads for another.; Especially: a heavenly saint who intercedes (with God) on behalf of a mere mortal.e.g.“St Mary the Intercessor; St Mary as intercessor”
- A middleman, intermediarye.g.“Kings were revered, in many cases not merely as priests, that is, as intercessors between man and god, but as themselves gods”
- A bishop who acts during a vacancy in a see.
Words closest in meaning
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