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Origin and history of ecclesiastic

ecclesiastic(adj.)

late 15c., from French ecclésiastique and directly from Medieval Latin ecclesiasticus, from Greek ekklesiastikos "of the (ancient Athenian) assembly," in late Greek, "of the church," from ekklesiastes "speaker in an assembly or church, preacher," from ekkalein "to call out," from ek "out" (see ex-) + kalein "to call" (from PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout"). As a noun, "one holding an office in the Christian ministry," 1650s (the earlier noun was ecclesiast, late 14c.); the Latin word also was used as a noun in Late Latin.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to ecclesiastic

Ecclesiastes(n.)

c. 1300, name given to one of the Old Testament books, traditionally ascribed to Solomon, from Greek ekklesiastes (see ecclesiastic), to render Hebrew qoheleth "one who addresses an assembly," from qahal "assembly." The title is technically the designation of the speaker, but that word throughout is usually rendered into English as "The Preacher" (which Klein calls "erroneous," as the modern meaning of preacher is not synonymous with the Greek word).

ecclesiastical(adj.)

early 15c., from ecclesiastic + -al (1). Related: Ecclesiastically.

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cleric
"a clergyman," 1620s (also in early use as an adjective), from Church Latin clericus "clergyman, priest," noun use of adjective meaning "priestly, belonging to the clerus;" from Ecclesiastical Greek klērikos "pertaining to an inheritance," but in Greek Christian jargon by 2c., "o
divine
late 14c., "pertaining to, of the nature of, or proceeding from God or a god; addressed to God," from Old French divin, devin (12c.), from Latin divinus "of a god," from divus "of or belonging to a god, inspired, prophetic," related to deus "god, deity" (from PIE root *dyeu- "to
banns
They were made part of ecclesiastic legislation 1215 by the fourth Lateran council....
prelate
c. 1200, "ecclesiastic of high rank, bishop, pope, superior of a religious house," from Old French prelat (Modern French...
pontifical
.); "vestments of a high ecclesiastic" (c. 1400)....
reverence
As a respectful form of address, with possessive pronoun, to a clergyman or ecclesiastic, late 14c....
clerk
c. 1200, "man ordained in the ministry, a priest, an ecclesiastic," from Old English cleric and Old French clerc "clergyman...
reverend
early 15c., also reverent, "worthy of deep respect, worthy to be revered" due to age, character, etc., from Old French reverent, reverend and directly from Latin reverendus "(he who is) to be respected," gerundive of revereri "to stand in awe of, respect, honor, fear, be afraid o
circle
c. 1300, "figure of a circle, a plane figure whose periphery is everywhere equidistant from its center point," from Old French cercle "circle, ring (for the finger); hoop of a helmet or barrel" (12c.), from Latin circulus "circular figure; small ring, hoop; circular orbit" (also
Zeus
supreme god of the ancient Greeks and master of the others, 1706, from Greek, from PIE *dewos- "god" (source also of Latin deus "god," Old Persian daiva- "demon, evil god," Old Church Slavonic deivai, Sanskrit deva-), from root *dyeu- "to shine," in derivatives "sky, heaven, god.

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