ecclesiastical

[ ih-klee-zee-as-ti-kuhl ]

adjective

1. of or relating to the church or the clergy; churchly; clerical; not secular.

ecclesiastical

/ ɪˌkliːzɪˈæstɪkəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to the Christian Church

Derived Forms

• ecˌclesiˈastically, adverb

Other Words From

• ec·clesi·asti·cal·ly adverb
• anti·ec·clesi·asti·cal adjective
• anti·ec·clesi·asti·cal·ly adverb
• inter·ec·clesi·asti·cal adjective
• inter·ec·clesi·asti·cal·ly adverb
• nonec·clesi·asti·cal adjective
• nonec·clesi·asti·cal·ly adverb
• unec·clesi·asti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ecclesiastical¹

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; Ecclesiastes, -ical

Example Sentences

Rising above the western skyline before freeways had cut their paths, spires and towers signaled many of the ecclesiastical palaces — St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Joseph’s, First Methodist — calling the faithful from Queen Anne neighborhoods that along with their original churches have long since disappeared.

From Los Angeles Times

Only ecclesiastical authorities sanction marriage, and do so with additional patriarchal commitments.

From Salon

The observatory’s mission statement says experts will analyze and interpret apparitions, lacrimations, or weeping statues, stigmata “and other mystical phenomena that are in progress or have already occurred, but are still awaiting a pronouncement of the ecclesiastical authority on their authenticity.”

From Seattle Times

Within a few decades, new endpapers were added, and around 1847, the ecclesiastical historian and collector William Maskell signed the book and began adding his own notes.

From Science Daily

Across the decades, there were many cases of ecclesiastical civil disobedience — clergy doing ordinations and marriages that defied church bans, some of whom were tried for heresy or other infractions.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• clerical
• sectarian