3 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

abbe

noun: a French abbot

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Abb'e \Ab"b['e]'\ ([.a]b"b[asl]'), noun [F. abb['e]. See {Abbot}.] The French word answering to the English abbot, the head of an abbey; but commonly a title of respect given in France to every one vested with the ecclesiastical habit or dress.

Note: After the 16th century, the name was given, in social parlance, to candidates for some priory or abbey in the gift of the crown. Many of these aspirants became well known in literary and fashionable life. By further extension, the name came to be applied to unbeneficed secular ecclesiastics generally. --Littr['e].

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

29 Moby Thesaurus words for "abbe": DD, Doctor of Divinity, Holy Joe, chaplain, churchman, clergyman, cleric, clerical, clerk, curate, cure, divine, ecclesiastic, man of God, military chaplain, minister, padre, parson, pastor, rector, reverend, servant of God, shepherd, sky pilot, supply clergy, supply minister, the Reverend, the very Reverend, tonsured cleric

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