ecclesiastical
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- antiecclesiastical adjective
- antiecclesiastically adverb
- ecclesiastically adverb
- interecclesiastical adjective
- interecclesiastically adverb
- nonecclesiastical adjective
- nonecclesiastically adverb
- unecclesiastically adverb
Etymology
Origin of ecclesiastical
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; Ecclesiastes, -ical
Explanation
Anything ecclesiastical is related to the Christian church. An ecclesiastical office is the office at a church, and a nun’s habit is ecclesiastical dress. A hat with a propeller on top is not. Ecclesiastical things have to do with Christian churches or the clergy. Pews, readings from the Bible, and stained glass windows are all part of the ecclesiastical world. The ecclesiastical hierarchy is the pecking order of the clergy, and high-ranking clergy are considered to be ecclesiastical authorities. Secular is the opposite of ecclesiastical.
Vocabulary lists containing ecclesiastical
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
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"Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King, Jr.
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World Religions
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The day marks the beginning of Lent, the most solemn season of repentance in the ecclesiastical year.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
Yet despite the local ecclesiastical authorities approving the scene, the installation in central Brussels has come under fire online since opening on Friday, with right-wing Belgian politician Georges-Louis Bouchez even comparing the figures to "zombies".
From Barron's • Dec. 2, 2025
He is one of three ecclesiastical staff allowed to stay in the Sistine Chapel despite not being a cardinal elector, even though they will have to leave the premises during the counting of the votes.
From BBC • May 6, 2025
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 • May 15, 2024
Before he was to be ordained, he was made an attractive offer of secular employment, which—perhaps because he felt himself indifferently suited to an ecclesiastical career—he found himself accepting.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
