Word of the day: hierophant

The word of the day is hierophant:

< late Latin hierophantēs, -phanta, < Greek ἱεροϕάντης, < ἱερός sacred + ϕαίνειν bring to light, make known, reveal. 

1. Hist. An official expounder of sacred mysteries or religious ceremonies, esp. in ancient Greece; an initiating or presiding priest.
2. gen. An expounder of sacred mysteries; the minister of any ‘revelation’; the interpreter of any esoteric principle. (OED)


"In 'Green Lantern,' directed by Martin Campbell, the Guardians, who use the ethical power of will to protect the universe from the destructive force of fear, direct the Lanterns, who wear green plastic suits and have purple faces with pointy ears, or heads like fish; they talk slowly and solemnly, like the hierophants of some forgotten Egyptian religion gathered in an underground crypt."

 - David Denby, "Anything goes: How summer went digital", 27 June 2011 The New Yorker