What does consecrator mean?
A consecrator is someone who performs a consecration: the solemn act of dedicating a person, place, or object to sacred service through a religious ceremony. The term is used chiefly within Christianity, particularly in traditions such as Roman Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Anglicanism, where bishops serve as consecrators of churches, altars, chrism, and other bishops. In episcopal ordination, the 'principal consecrator' is the presiding bishop who confers the sacrament, often joined by co-consecrators. Because consecration marks a transition from ordinary to sacred status, the consecrator holds a role of considerable ceremonial and spiritual authority, and the word carries a correspondingly formal, reverent connotation. Outside liturgical contexts it appears mostly in historical and theological writing, recording who dedicated a given church or relic. It derives from Latin roots meaning to make sacred, sharing that lineage with words like consecrate and sanctify.
nounA consecrator is a person who performs the act of consecration — formally dedicating something or someone to a sacred purpose, especially by religious rite.
- A person (typically clergy) who performs a consecration, formally dedicating a person, place, or object to sacred service.
"The archbishop, acting as consecrator, anointed the new church with holy oil."
"As principal consecrator, the bishop laid hands on the newly ordained priest before the assembled congregation."
"The cathedral's chronicle records the name of its medieval consecrator alongside the date of its dedication."
The plural commonly appears when referring to co-consecrating bishops or to multiple officiants across history.
"Three bishops served as co-consecrators at the ceremony."
In Roman Catholic tradition, only a bishop may serve as the principal consecrator of another bishop — meaning some consecrators stand at the head of apostolic lineages stretching back centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of consecrator
Consecrator traces to the Latin consecrare ('to dedicate as sacred'), formed from com- ('together') and sacer ('sacred'), with the agent suffix -tor producing consecrator, 'one who makes sacred'. English borrowed both the verb consecrate and the agent noun from Latin via ecclesiastical usage, with consecrator attested from around the early modern period as Christian liturgical vocabulary developed. Its cognates include consecrate, consecration, and, more distantly, sanctify and sacred, all descending from the same Indo-European root *sak-, denoting holiness.
Related word forms
How consecrator is actually used
The word is formal and almost exclusively religious in register, appearing mainly in liturgical, ecclesiastical, and historical texts. In Catholic canon law it often denotes the officiating bishop at an episcopal ordination; it is rarely used outside these contexts.
Easily confused with consecrator
A consecrator dedicates something to sacred use, whereas a desecrator violates or profanes what is sacred — they are near-opposites.