intercessor

English

Alternative forms

• intercessour (obsolete)

Etymology

Late 15th century, from Latin intercessor,^[1] from Latin intercēdō, from inter (“between”) + cēdō (“I go”) (English cede), literally “go-between”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪntə(ɹ)ˌsɛsə(ɹ)/

Noun

intercessor (plural intercessors)

1. A person who intercedes; a mediator; one who reconciles enemies, or pleads for another.
   1. Especially: a heavenly saint who intercedes (with God) on behalf of a mere mortal.

      St Mary the Intercessor;   St Mary as intercessor

2. A middleman, intermediary
   • 1894, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough‎:

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

3. A bishop who acts during a vacancy in a see.

Related terms

• intercede
• intercession
• intercessory

Translations

one who intercedes

Bulgarian: посредник (bg) m (posrednik), застъпник (bg) m (zastǎpnik) Catalan: intercessor m French: intercesseur (fr) m, intercessrice (fr) f Hebrew: שְׁתַדְּלָן m (sh'tadlán) Irish: impíoch m Portuguese: intercessor (pt) m Russian: посре́дник (ru) m (posrédnik), посре́дница (ru) f (posrédnica) Spanish: intercesor (es) m Ukrainian: заступник (uk) m (zastupnyk) Yiddish: שתּדלן m (shtadlen)

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “intercessor”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin intercessōrem.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

intercessor m (plural intercessors, feminine intercessora)

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, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “intercessor”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “intercessor” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “intercessor” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /in.terˈkes.sor/, [ɪn̪t̪ɛrˈkɛs̠ːɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /in.terˈt͡ʃes.sor/, [in̪t̪erˈt͡ʃɛsːor]

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’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed 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]
  • (Southern Brazil) 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, 2008–2025