ecclesiastic definition | Dictionary.com

ec⋅cle⋅si⋅as⋅tic

[i-klee-zee-as-tik]

–noun

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

2.	a member of the ecclesia in ancient Athens.

–adjective

3.	ecclesiastical.

Origin:
1475–85; < LL ecclēsiasticus < Gk ekklēsiastikós. See Ecclesiastes, -ic

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ec·cle·si·as·tic (ĭ-klē'zē-ās'tĭk)

adj. Ecclesiastical.
n. A minister or priest; a cleric.

[Late Latin ecclēsiasticus, from Greek ekklēsiastikos, from ekklēsiastēs, a member of the ecclesia; see Ecclesiastes.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ecclesiastic

Ec*cle`si*as"tic\ (?; 277), a. [L. ecclesiasticus, Gr. ?, fr. ? an assembly of citizens called out by the crier; also, the church, fr. ? called out, fr. ? to call out; ? out + ? to call. See Ex-, and Hale, v. t., Haul.] Of or pertaining to the church. See Ecclesiastical. "Ecclesiastic government." --Swift.

Ecclesiastic

Ec*cle`si*as"tic\, n. A person in holy orders, or consecrated to the service of the church and the ministry of religion; a clergyman; a priest.

From a humble ecclesiastic, he was subsequently preferred to the highest dignities of the church. --Prescott.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : ecclesiastic

Spanish: eclesiástico,

German: kirchlich,

Japanese: キリスト教会の

More Translations »

ecclesiastic

1483, from L.L. ecclesiasticus, from Gk. ekklesiastikos "of the (ancient Athenian) assembly," later, "of the church," from ekklesiastes "speaker in an assembly or church, preacher," from ekkalein "to call out."

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