cleric

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin clēricus (“of the clergy; clergyman, priest”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the noun use of the adjective,^[3][7] from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós, “concerning inheritances; member of the clergy”),^[2][8][9] from κλῆρος (klêros, “lot, allotment, piece of land, inheritance”),^[2][4][3] which in Hellenistic Greek also came to mean the clergy, from the 2nd century AD.^[2][3] The OED notes that klêros was first applied to the Christian ministry in Acts 1:17, where Judas is said to have received "the lot of this ministry";^[2][4][6] Barnhart and Etymonline connect it instead, or as well, with the Septuagint's use of the word for the Levites, whose inheritance was the service of God, as a loan translation of a Hebrew word meaning inheritance or lot.^[9][3] Old English had already borrowed the Latin word as clēric, which merged with Old French clerc to give Middle English clerc, now clerk;^[9] cleric was taken up again in the 17th century, after clerk had moved towards its modern sense.^[9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, of or relating to the clergy: 1606, in R. Hill's translation of Bucanus.^[2] As a noun, a member of the clergy: 1611, in a translation of W. Barclay,^[2] while Barnhart and Merriam-Webster date the noun to 1621 and Etymonline to the 1620s.^[9][7][3]

Semantic evolution

In Latin clēricus had covered a range of ranks and roles over the centuries: a clergyman or priest from the 3rd century, a monk, a member of the lower orders, a canon, and in medieval Britain also a clerk or scribe and a student.^[2] English borrowed it only for the clergy, the other senses having gone to clerk.^[9][3] The adjective, which the Shorter Oxford calls now rare, gave way to clerical.^[10][2] From 1864 the noun was applied to scholars of Islamic law and theology, and since 1870 to people with religious authority in other religions.^[2]

Timeline

• 1606 – adjective, of the clergy.^[2]
• 1611 – noun, a member of the Christian clergy.^[2]
• 1621 – noun, in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster.^[9][7]
• 1864 – an expert in Islamic law and theology.^[2]
• 1870 – a religious authority in other religions.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A member of the clergy; a priest, minister or other person ordained for religious service: A local cleric led the memorial service.^[5][7][2]
2. A religious leader or scholar in a non-Christian religion, especially an expert in Islamic law and theology.^[2]
3. One who has received the tonsure; a clerk in the old ecclesiastical sense.^[7]

Adjective

1. (rare) Of the clergy; clerical.^[7][10][2]

Word family

• declericalize

Related words

• clerical
• clerisy
• clerk
• clergy

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press