clergyman
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of clergyman
Explanation
A clergyman is a male religious leader. Priests, rabbis, ministers, or imams are all considered clergymen if they're male. While you can use the terms clergyman and clergywoman to specify male and female religious leaders, both clergyperson and simply clergy are fine too. Any term including clergy is most common in Christianity — Catholic clergymen, for example, include priests, deacons, and bishops. The word comes from the Latin clericus, "learned man or priest."
Vocabulary lists containing clergyman
"The Red Shoes" by Hans Christian Andersen
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Adventures of Don Quixote
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Vocabulary from Readings 5, Unit 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Watch: Clergyman narrowly avoids Odesa church roof collapse.
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2023
Clergyman Brian Anderson is chairman of the East Belfast Mission, which runs services to help people who have become victims of paramilitary loan sharks.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2022
A Clergyman engaged in catechizing a village school, asked a youngster, “what his godfathers and godmothers did for him?”
From Slate • Apr. 29, 2018
A Clergyman was discoursing to his Sunday School children on two Scripture lessons, 1st, the “Choice of Herodias’s daughter,” and 2nd, “Solomon’s choice.”
From Slate • Apr. 29, 2018
A Clergyman was seized with a Dysentery, which was not in the least mitigated by any Medicines he had taken.
From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
