ecclesiastical
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- antiecclesiastical adjective
- antiecclesiastically adverb
- ecclesiastically adverb
- interecclesiastical adjective
- interecclesiastically adverb
- nonecclesiastical adjective
- nonecclesiastically adverb
- unecclesiastically adverb
Etymology
Origin of ecclesiastical
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; Ecclesiastes, -ical
Explanation
Anything ecclesiastical is related to the Christian church. An ecclesiastical office is the office at a church, and a nun’s habit is ecclesiastical dress. A hat with a propeller on top is not. Ecclesiastical things have to do with Christian churches or the clergy. Pews, readings from the Bible, and stained glass windows are all part of the ecclesiastical world. The ecclesiastical hierarchy is the pecking order of the clergy, and high-ranking clergy are considered to be ecclesiastical authorities. Secular is the opposite of ecclesiastical.
Vocabulary lists containing ecclesiastical
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
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"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr.
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World Religions
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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.
The day marks the beginning of Lent, the most solemn season of repentance in the ecclesiastical year.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
Yet despite the local ecclesiastical authorities approving the scene, the installation in central Brussels has come under fire online since opening on Friday, with right-wing Belgian politician Georges-Louis Bouchez even comparing the figures to "zombies".
From Barron's • Dec. 2, 2025
He is one of three ecclesiastical staff allowed to stay in the Sistine Chapel despite not being a cardinal elector, even though they will have to leave the premises during the counting of the votes.
From BBC • May 6, 2025
Paolo Pierobon plays Pius IX as a reptilian, vengeful theocrat with his own deep-seated fears, borne of ceding ecclesiastical dominion to an increasingly progressive anti-papist world.
From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2024
Which isn't really surprising, I suppose; this was also the age of ecclesiastical mazes - which may have served as metaphors for pilgrimages to Jerusalem - such as those at Chartres and Lucca Cathedrals.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
