sexton
sex·ton/ˈsɛk.stən/noun
sexton is spelled S-E-X-T-O-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables (sex·ton). It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sexton means “A church official who looks after a church building and its graveyard and may act as a gravedigger and bell ringer” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sexton is sextons.
How many letters and syllables are in sexton?
| Letters | 6: S-E-X-T-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: sex·ton |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,092nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is sexton?
Sexton appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,092nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sexton?
- /ˈsɛk.stən/
Sexton has 2 syllables, split sex·ton in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-sexton.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sexton
- sextons plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sexton mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A church official who looks after a church building and its graveyard and may act as a gravedigger and bell ringer.
- 2
A sexton beetle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sexton in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense church official:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sacristain, sacriste |
| German | Küster, Küsterin, Sigrist, Sigristin, Kirchendiener, Kirchendienerin |
| Portuguese | sacristão |
| Spanish | sacristán |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sexton come from?
From Old French segrestien, from Medieval Latin sacristanus, based on Latin sacer (“sacred”). Doublet of sacristan.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).