# Armenian: priest / teacher



## sotos

Hello all. I want to know if there is any lingual relation between the meanings of "priest" and "teacher" in Armenian. I tried to find a clue by using online dictionaries and transliteration to latin, and I found this word that seems to have both meanings: գոյական. Does it really connect the two meanings? How about the word "Rabbi"? Is it used out of religious context? I am especially interested in old word, which may have been used in 19th century. 

Thanks in advance.


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## AniwaR

Hello! The word գոյական that you referenced simply means a _noun _in Armenian, and has nothing to do with either _teacher _or _priest_.

I suppose the word you are looking for is վարդապետ (_vardapet_). You can read more about them here. I am not an expert on the subject and I am not sure how things were in the past, but we never call an ordinary school or university teacher _vardapet _nowadays. The word is still widely and actively used in the religious circles and contexts, however.

I checked the entry րաբբի (_rabbi_) in the 1976 monolingual explanatory dictionary of contemporary [Eastern] Armenian (link), where it is explained as:
1. Spiritual leader* and worship servant* in a Jewish religious community 2. _figuratively_ a teacher​I can recall the word _rabbi _only from books and contexts somehow connected with the Jewish culture indeed. The word _vardapet _is much more authentic to the Armenian culture, so to say.

* - Please excuse my rough/literal translation. Since you seem to be familiar with the topic, I guess they will be helpful for you nevertheless.

[Edit]
My general knowledge is that in the past the Armenian education system was very closely tied to the church, and monasteries served as educational institutions as well. So, it is probably that the highly educated priests (i.e. _vardapets_) were also teachers as much as they were religious servants. One of the most famous _vardapets _is Komitas, for example, who is the most important musicologist in the Armenian history.

In the Armenian translations relating to the Bible, such as films, for example, Jesus is also very often referred to as _vardapet _by the apostles, although he had no official religious rank I suppose.  This is an example of that word used in the sense of _teacher_.

Hope this helps!


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## sotos

AniwaR said:


> Hello! The word գոյական that you referenced simply means a _noun _in Armenian, and has nothing to do with either _teacher _or _priest_.



Oops! It seems that I copy-pasted the wrong word 

Thank you for the answers, AniwaR. It was also common in old Greece (early 19th century) that a priest does some teaching as well.

[Edit]
Well, sorry to bother you again, but could you kindly check this 19th c. dictionary: A Dictionary English and Armenian By Father Paschal Aucher with the assistance of John Brand Esqre and the word "Teacher", at page 712. I think it gives a form of the word "vardapet". Also, the wictionary (
vardapet - Wiktionary ) gives this meaning. So, the same word meaned "teacher" and "high priest". Right?

Thank you again.


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## AniwaR

Yes, the 19th c. dictionary lists _vardapet/_վարդապետ (in the same exact form as anywhere else) in front of the entry _Teacher.
_
I also checked the explanation for the word _vardapet _in this 1969 dictionary of contemporary [Eastern] Armenian, and in short this is what it says:

Vardapet:
1. celibate priest
2. science degree bestowed on priests
3. _archaic _a teacher who would gather students—followers—around him [in a circle] and teach them—preach his doctrine—or teach cenobites in monasteries​
Hope this helps.
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## sotos

Most helpful. Thank you again.


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