ecclesiastic
Americannoun
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a member of the clergy or other person in religious orders.
-
a member of the ecclesia in ancient Athens.
adjective
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing ecclesiastic
"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" by Frederick Douglass
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What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
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The House of the Spirits
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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.
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
An Ecclesiastic was hearing them;—they seemed ready enough with their answers, but were allowed to gabble off the holy words in a manner almost unintelligible, and quite indecorous.
From A Trip to Cuba by Howe, Julia Ward
The chief prelate of the English Church was struck down at the bidding of a foreign Ecclesiastic; the recusant had been gratuitously glorified with the martyr's crown.
From England under the Tudors by Innes, Arthur D. (Arthur Donald)
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.
