Etymologically
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clerical

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈklɛɹɪkəl/[1]

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman clerical (“of clerics or the clergy”) and partly directly borrowed from Late Latin clēricālis,[2][3][4][5][6] which is formed from clēricus (“a member of the clergy”) and the classical Latin suffix -ālis.[2][5] The Anglo-Norman adjective is recorded from 1386.[7] Etymonline takes the English word from cleric and -al, or from French clérical, from Old French clerigal (“learned”).[8] Clēricus is from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós, “of the clergy”), from κλῆρος (klêros, “a lot, allotment; inheritance”),[8][1] first a shard or wood chip used in casting lots.[8] It is the source of clerk and clergy too.[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to clerics or the clergy: about 1475, in Mankind.[2] The Shorter Oxford gives the first sense as "learned", and Dictionary.com dates the sense "learned" to 1425–75.[3][10] Etymonline dates the word to the 1590s, and Merriam-Webster to 1592.[8][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense "of a clerk, or of writing out documents" is recorded from 1646 in the OED,[2] while Etymonline dates "of clerks and copyists" to 1798;[8] the phrase clerical error, a mistake made in copying or writing something out, belongs to it.[3] It now usually refers to routine office work.[2][4] Johnson (1755) gave only the sense "relating to the clergy".[11] The adjective was used as a noun for a cleric from 1605, in Camden's Remaines,[2][4] in the plural for the clothes of the clergy from 1796,[2] for a supporter of the political power of the clergy from 1856,[2] and for an office clerk from 1895.[2][4] The derivative clericalism, the power or influence of the clergy, dates from 1849,[8] and Weekley called it a neologism used in a hostile sense.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 1475 – of clerics or the clergy.[2][3]
  • 1605 – noun, a cleric.[2][4]
  • 1646 – of a clerk or of writing documents.[2] Etymonline dates this sense to 1798.[8]
  • 1796 – noun, plural, the clothes of the clergy.[2]
  • 1856 – noun, a supporter of clericalism.[2]
  • 1895 – noun, an office clerk.[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to the clergy or to a member of it: He arrived in full clerical dress.[13][4][2]
  2. Of or relating to clerks or to routine office work, such as keeping records: She took a clerical job at the bank.[13][4][2]
  3. Supporting clericalism, the political power of the clergy.[13][4]

Noun

  1. A member of the clergy; a cleric.[4][2][3]
  2. A supporter of clericalism.[4][2]
  3. clericals (plural): the clothes worn by the clergy.[4][2][3]
  4. A person who does clerical work in an office.[4][2]

Word family

  • clerically
  • clericality
  • clericalism
  • clericalist
  • interclerical
  • nonclerical
  • preclerical

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins