ecclesiasticism

American  

[ih-klee-zee-as-tuh-siz-uhm] / ɪˌkli ziˈæs təˌsɪz əm /

noun

1. ecclesiastical principles, practices, or spirit.

2. devotion, especially excessive devotion, to the principles or interests of the church.

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ecclesiasticism British  

/ ɪˌkliːzɪˈæstɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. exaggerated attachment to the practices or principles of the Christian Church

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Other Word Forms

• antiecclesiasticism noun

Etymology

Origin of ecclesiasticism

First recorded in 1860–65; ecclesiastic + -ism

Example Sentences

Or was it the ecclesiasticism reaches, as everyone knows, from Maine to California, from Mississippi Baptists to Princeton theologues.

From Time Magazine Archive

The timing of Easter, a confusing system mixing astronomy and ecclesiasticism, was worked out by the early Christian Church at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and has never been changed.

From Time Magazine Archive

The fact that its author should have become Pope later, is the best proof that instead of opposition there was the greatest sympathy between medicine and ecclesiasticism in his time.

From The Popes and Science The History of the Papal Relations to Science During the Middle Ages and Down to Our Own Time by Walsh, James J.

In about six months King Ferdinand undid the progressive work of six years, and Spain relapsed into absolutism and ecclesiasticism, with all their attendant evils.

From The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte Vol. IV. (of IV.) by Sloane, William Milligan

In truth, nothing could be more natural, for the venue illustrates not only the paramount influence of ecclesiasticism in those days, but also the characteristic tendencies of the East Anglian people.

From Through East Anglia in a Motor Car by Vincent, J. E. (James Edmund)