Ecclesia

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ecclesia \Ec*cle"si*a\, n.; pl. {Ecclesi[ae]}. [L., fr. Gr. ?.]
     1. (Gr. Antiq.) The public legislative assembly of the
        Athenians.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Eccl.) A church, either as a body or as a building.


        [1913 Webster]

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ECCLESIA. In classical Greek this word signifies any assembly, and in this 
  sense it is used in Acts xix. 39. But ordinarily, in the New Testament, the 
  word denotes a Christian assembly, and is rendered into English by the word 
  church. It occurs thrice only in, the Gospels, viz. in Matt. xvi. 18, and 
  xviii. 17; but very frequently in the other parts of the New Testament, 
  beginning with Acts ii. 47. In Acts xix. 37, the word churches, in the 
  common English version, seems to be improperly used to denote heathen 
  temples. Figuratively, the word church is employed to signify the building 
  set apart for the Christian assemblies; but the word eclesia is not used in 
  the New Testament in that sense.