ecclesia

American  

[ih-klee-zhee-uh, -zee-uh] / ɪˈkli ʒi ə, -zi ə /

noun

plural

ecclesiae

1. an assembly, especially the popular assembly of ancient Athens.

2. a congregation; church.

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ecclesia British  

/ ɪˈkliːzɪə /

noun

1. (in formal Church usage) a congregation

2. the assembly of citizens of an ancient Greek state

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Etymology

Origin of ecclesia

1570–80; < Latin < Greek ekklēsía assembly, equivalent to ékklēt ( os ) summoned ( ek- ec- + klē-, variant of kal-, stem of kaleîn to call, + -tos past participle suffix) + -ia -ia

Example Sentences

Pene haec millenos ecclesia floruit annos, Duret ad extremum nobilis usque diem, Daque deus longum, ut floreat hae sacra aedes Et celebret nomen plebs ibi sancta tuum.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See by Clifton, A. B.

Stemeterii et Caledonii in praedicta oratione ..., praecipue in ecclesia matrice ubi sacra eorum capita ... venerantur?

From The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, November 1864 by

Dum autem ecclesia illa pro castello teneretur, ebullivit sanguis a parietibus ecclesiæ et claustri adjacentis, indignationem divinam manifestans; sceleratorum exterminationem denuntians, quod quidem multi viderant, et ego ipse quidem meis oculis inspexi!

From The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple by Addison, Charles G.

But order had been evolved in the ecclesia.

From Women of Early Christianity by Brittain, Alfred

Quadraginta sententias in isto libro posuimus, credentes hoc sufficere posse per annum fidelibus, si integre eis a ministris Dei recitentur in ecclesia.

From The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church Containing the Sermones Catholici, or Homilies of ?lfric, in the Original Anglo-Saxon, with an English Version. Volume I. by Aelfric, Abbot of Eynsham