ecclesiastical
12
9.9
- adjective
- /ɪˌkliːziˈæstɪkəl/
- Formal
:
eclesiástico
- We rejoice that our separated brethren look to Christ as the source and center of ecclesiastical communion.
- ecclesiastical authority
- ecclesiastical hierarchy
- ecclesiastical affairs
He had to bring these people up on on charges as heretics before an ecclesiastical tribunal.
- He had to bring these people up on on charges as heretics before an ecclesiastical tribunal.
Examples
-
The authority being transferred is thus at once ecclesiastical and diplomatic.
Academic text (1999) -
Questions involving the morality of aspiration were the province of the Church and the ecclesiastical courts.
Academic text (2008) -
Every part of the incident concerns ecclesiastical law.
-
We have the permission of the ecclesiastical authority who are praying for us.
-
The second example is one of the most interesting found in the ecclesiastical archives from this period.
Academic text (1994) -
My papa holds the chair for Ecclesiastical History at the University of Cambridge.
-
The influence of Vatican II moved far beyond the ecclesiastical realm.
Academic text (2013) -
The official recognition of philosophy in the Christian world made philosophy subject to ecclesiastical supervision.
Academic text (1999) -
Yet marriage remained a secular event that required no synagogal or ecclesiastical blessing for Jew or Christian.
Academic text (2008) -
The gray stone chapel echoes the 13th-century ecclesiastical French Gothic style, complete with flying buttresses.
Synonyms
11
6.1
Relating to church leaders and their duties
2
9.3
Relating to a church, its leaders, or its work
1
9.9
Relating to the church or to its priests and ministers
Compounds
- Formal
1
9.5
Laws and rules made by Christian churches to govern their organization and members
- Formal
Church leaders wear a long loose piece of clothing for church services
- Formal
A plan of the Christian year showing dates of fasts and holy days like Easter
How Church-Related
Surface Forms
Morphology
ecclesiastical = ecclesiastic (semi-transparent) = ecclesiastic + al
The meaning is largely predictable from ecclesiastic plus the adjectival suffix -al, but the word is specialized to church matters rather than a fully general compositional meaning.
Etymology
Ecclesiastical comes from the Greek word ekklesia, which meant 'assembly' and later came to mean 'church'. So ecclesiastical describes things that belong to the church or its leaders.