What's the difference between these words for 'priest'?


What's the difference between these words for 'priest'?

宮司 [ぐうじ]  
高僧 [こうそう]  
住職 [じゅうしょく]  
神職 [しんしょく]  
僧侶 [そうりょ]  
出家 [しゅっけ]  
禅僧 [ぜんそう]  
神主 [かんぬし]  
お坊さん [おぼうさん]  
牧師 [ぼくし]  
神父 [しんぷ]

Thanks!




### Shinto

  * 宮司: The head of a shrine.
  * 神職: Literally "God(-related) job", people who do various rituals of Shinto.
  * 神主: A rather casual synonym of 神職. Practically, in many small shrines, this is the same person as a 宮司.

### Buddhism

  * 僧: A monk of Buddhism.
  * 僧侶: Synonym of 僧.
  * 高僧: A 僧 with high social status.
  * お坊さん: A friendly and colloquial synonym for 僧.
  * 住職: The head of a temple (who is of course a 僧侶, too)
  * 禅僧: 僧 of Zen Buddhism.
  * 出家: to enter the Buddhist priesthood (suru-verb)

### Christianity

  * 牧師: A pastor.

* * *

If you need a generic term for "clergy", use 聖職者, which includes everything
above except 出家.




### Shinto

  * 宮司: The head of a shrine.
  * 神職: Literally "God(-related) job", people who do various rituals of Shinto.
  * 神主: A rather casual synonym of 神職. Practically, in many small shrines, this is the same person as a 宮司.

### Buddhism

  * 僧: A monk of Buddhism.
  * 僧侶: Synonym of 僧.
  * 高僧: A 僧 with high social status.
  * お坊さん: A friendly and colloquial synonym for 僧.
  * 住職: The head of a temple (who is of course a 僧侶, too)
  * 禅僧: 僧 of Zen Buddhism.
  * 出家: to enter the Buddhist priesthood (suru-verb)

### Christianity

  * 牧師: A pastor.

* * *

If you need a generic term for "clergy", use 聖職者, which includes everything
above except 出家.

