ecclesiastic

American  

[ih-klee-zee-as-tik] / ɪˌkli ziˈæs tɪk /

noun

1. a member of the clergy or other person in religious orders.

2. a member of the ecclesia in ancient Athens.

---

adjective

1. ecclesiastical.

ecclesiastic British  

/ ɪˌkliːzɪˈæstɪk /

noun

1. a clergyman or other person in holy orders

---

adjective

1. of or associated with the Christian Church or clergy

Other Word Forms

• antiecclesiastic
  noun
• nonecclesiastic
  adjective
• unecclesiastic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ecclesiastic

1475–85; < Late Latin ecclēsiasticus < Greek ekklēsiastikós. See Ecclesiastes, -ic

Explanation

If you’re an ecclesiastic, you probably spend a lot of time in church. The word ecclesiastic describes a member of the clergy, typically someone associated with a Christian church. The word ecclesiastic has origins in the Greek word ekklesiastes, meaning "speaker in an assembly or church," and can be used to describe someone associated with a church, such as a cleric or a priest. When you see an English word that begins with the eccles bit, you can be pretty sure that its meaning will somehow involve religious matters. That’s because ekklēsia is the Greek word for church and it has influenced the spelling of many English words of a religious nature, such as ecclesial, ecclesiolatry, and ecclesiarch.

Example Sentences

Moore recounted how an agent codenamed Ecclesiastic, who penetrated German intelligence for MI6 in 1944, was looked after by the service until her death, aged 100.

From Washington Times • Jul. 19, 2023

This exhibition has three acts: Secular, Ecclesiastic and, for lack of a better word, Miraculous.

From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2018

Another record was the Mingus Oh Yeah album, particularly Ecclesiastic, which I drew an enormous amount of pleasure from.

From The Guardian • Jun. 12, 2012

Was that an exceptional privilege for an Ecclesiastic?

From by

What possible sanction can an Ecclesiastic of the xiith century be supposed to yield to the hypothesis that S. Mark's Gospel, as it left the hands of its inspired Author, was an unfinished work?

From The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to S. Mark by Burgon, John William