Ecclesiastic

5 definitions found

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

  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; 'ek
     out + ? to call. See {Ex-}, and {Hale}, v. t., {Haul}.]
     Of or pertaining to the church. See {Ecclesiastical}.
     "Ecclesiastic government." --Swift.


     [1913 Webster]

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

  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.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           From a humble ecclesiastic, he was subsequently
           preferred to the highest dignities of the church.
                                                    --Prescott.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  ecclesiastic
       adj : of or associated with a church (especially a Christian
             Church); "ecclesiastic history" [syn: {ecclesiastical}]
       n : a clergyman or other person in religious orders [syn: {cleric},
            {churchman}, {divine}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  30 Moby Thesaurus words for "ecclesiastic":
     DD, Doctor of Divinity, Holy Joe, abbe, chaplain, churchman,
     clergyman, cleric, clerical, clerk, curate, cure, divine,
     man of God, military chaplain, minister, padre, parson, pastor,
     preacher, rector, reverend, servant of God, shepherd, sky pilot,
     supply clergy, supply minister, the Reverend, the very Reverend,
     tonsured cleric
  
  

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

  ECCLESIASTIC. A clergyman; one destined to the divine ministry, as, a 
  bishop, a priest, a deacon. Dom. Lois Civ. liv. prel. t. 2, s. 2, n. 14.