Library / English Dictionary

ECCLESIASTIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A clergyman or other person in religious orders

Synonyms:

churchman; cleric; divine; ecclesiastic

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("ecclesiastic" is a kind of...):

clergyman; man of the cloth; reverend (a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ecclesiastic"):

ordainer (a cleric who ordains; a cleric who admits someone to holy orders)

pardoner (a medieval cleric who raised money for the church by selling papal indulgences)

pluralist (a cleric who holds more than one benefice at a time)

Instance hyponyms:

a Kempis; Thomas a Kempis (German ecclesiastic (1380-1471))

Bruno; Saint Bruno; St. Bruno ((Roman Catholic Church) a French cleric (born in Germany) who founded the Carthusian order in 1084 (1032-1101))

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or associated with a church (especially a Christian Church)

Example:

ecclesiastic history

Synonyms:

ecclesiastic; ecclesiastical

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

church (one of the groups of Christians who have their own beliefs and forms of worship)

Credits