intercessor

English

Alternative forms

• intercessour (obsolete)

Etymology

Late 15th century, from Latin intercessor, from Latin intercēdō, from inter (“between”) + cēdō (“to go”) (English cede), literally “go-between”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪntə(ɹ)ˌsɛsə(ɹ)/

Noun

intercessor (plural intercessors)

1. One who intercedes, particularly
   1. A mediator, one who reconciles enemies or pleads for another.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:deputy

   2. An intermediary, a middleman.

      Synonyms: intermediary, middleman, go-between, solicitor

      • 1894, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough‎^[1]:

        Kings were revered, in many cases not merely as priests, that is, as intercessors between man and god, but as themselves gods...

   3. (Roman Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy) A saint believed to plead for a sinner to God.

      St Mary the Intercessor

   4. (Roman Catholicism) A bishop who acts during a vacancy in a see.

Related terms

• intercede
• intercedent
• intercess
• intercession
• intercessionary
• intercessory

Translations

one who intercedes

• Bulgarian: посредник (bg) m (posrednik), застъпник (bg) m (zastăpnik)
• Catalan: intercessor m
• French: intercesseur (fr) m, intercessrice (fr) f
• Hebrew: שְׁתַדְּלָן m (sh'tadlán)
• Irish: impíoch m
• Polish: pośrednik (pl) m pers, pośredniczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: intercessor (pt) m
• Russian: посре́дник (ru) m (posrédnik), посре́дница (ru) f (posrédnica)
• Spanish: intercesor (es) m
• Turkish: aracı (tr)
• Ukrainian: заступник (uk) m (zastupnyk)
• Yiddish: שתּדלן m (shtadlen)

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin intercessōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [in.tər.səˈsu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central) [in.tər.səˈso]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [in.teɾ.seˈsoɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [in.ter.seˈso]
• Hyphenation: in‧ter‧ces‧sor

Noun

intercessor m (plural intercessors, feminine intercessora, feminine plural intercessores)

1. (law, Christianity) intercessor (one who intercedes)

Adjective

intercessor (feminine intercessora, masculine plural intercessors, feminine plural intercessores)

1. (law, Christianity) interceding (that intercedes), mediating

Related terms

• intercedir

Further reading

• “intercessor”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “intercessor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “intercessor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “intercessor”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪn.tɛrˈkɛs.sɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [in.terˈt͡ʃɛs.sor]

Noun

intercessor m (genitive intercessōris, feminine intercestrīx); third declension

1. mediator, intercessor

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	intercessor	intercessōrēs
genitive	intercessōris	intercessōrum
dative	intercessōrī	intercessōribus
accusative	intercessōrem	intercessōrēs
ablative	intercessōre	intercessōribus
vocative	intercessor	intercessōrēs

Descendants

• Catalan: intercessor
• Galician: intercesor
• Italian: intercessore
• Occitan: intercessor
• Portuguese: intercessor
• Spanish: intercesor

References

• “intercessor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “intercessor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "intercessor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin intercessōrem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teʁ.seˈsoʁ/ [ĩ.teh.seˈsoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teʁ.seˈsoʁ/ [ĩ.teh.seˈsoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teɾ.seˈsoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teʁ.seˈsoʁ/ [ĩ.teχ.seˈsoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ĩ.teɻ.seˈsoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.tɨɾ.sɨˈsoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.tɨɾ.sɨˈsoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ĩ.tɨɾ.sɨˈso.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: in‧ter‧ces‧sor

Noun

intercessor m (plural intercessores, feminine intercessora, feminine plural intercessoras)

1. intercessor (one who intercedes)

Related terms

• interceder

Further reading

• “intercessor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026