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.

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adjective

1. ecclesiastical.

ecclesiastic British  

/ ɪˌkliːzɪˈæstɪk /

noun

1. a clergyman or other person in holy orders

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adjective

1. of or associated with the Christian Church or clergy

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unecclesiastic
  adjective
• nonecclesiastic
  adjective
• antiecclesiastic
  noun

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.