sexton: [14] Sexton and sacristan [14] are doublets: that is to say, they started out as the same word, but have diverged over the centuries. Both come from medieval Latin sacristānus, a derivative of sacrista ‘person in charge of holy vessels’ (which in turn was based on Latin sacer ‘holy’, source of English sacred), but whereas sacristan was borrowed directly from Latin, sexton came via the roundabout route of Anglo- Norman segerstaine. => sacred, sacristan, saint
c. 1300, sekesteyn, "person in charge of the sacred objects of a church," from Old French segrestien, from Medieval Latin sacristanus (see sacristan). Sense of "custodian of a church" first recorded 1580s. Fem. forms sextress, sextrice are recorded 15c., but the usual form is sextoness (early 15c.).
