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a member of the secular clergy.
a title of respect for any ecclesiastic or clergyman.
Contemporary Examples

Kelley and her husband hired a prominent lawyer, abbe Lowell.
Jill Kelley’s Campaign to Befriend Petraeus, Allen, and Other Top Brass Michael Daly November 13, 2012

As abbe wades through her grief and her history, her marriage with Greg begins to fall apart.
The Daily Beast Recommends The Daily Beast May 25, 2009

Lead defense attorney abbe Lowell looked worried at the end of the 17th day of testimony at the John Edwards trial.
Is the Edwards Defense Team Losing It? Diane Dimond May 15, 2012

Defense attorney abbe Lowell is a wiry man who seems to never stop moving when he speaks in a courtroom.
Jury Gets the Edwards Case: Deliberations to Begin Friday Diane Dimond May 17, 2012

And how, exactly, does lead defense attorney abbe Lowell plan to do that?
John Edwards’s Newsweek Defense Diane Dimond April 22, 2012

Historical Examples

abbe Mouret smiled and related in a few words how strangely Jeanbernat had received him.
Abbe Mouret’s Transgression Emile Zola

It was not very late when she heard the abbe Cornille take his leave.
The Dream Emile Zola

The abbe Cornille wiped both her eyes with a bit of cotton, which he afterwards put into one of the little cornets of paper.
The Dream Emile Zola

They had waited until day, and the abbe, having been notified, was about to come.
The Dream Emile Zola

“I did not come to frighten you, for I shall never speak of this to any one in the world,” said the abbe.
Ursula Honore de Balzac

noun
Ernst. 1840–1905, German physicist, noted for his work in optics and the microscope condenser known as the Abbe condenser
noun
a French abbot
a title used in addressing any other French cleric, such as a priest
n.

1520s, title given in France to “every one who wears an ecclesiastical dress,” especially one having no assigned ecclesiastical duty, from French abbé, from Late Latin abbatem, accusative of abbas (see abbot).