clericalis

Forms

clēricālis (neuter clēricāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin clēricus (“clergyman”) + -ālis.^[1][2][3] The noun is from Greek, ultimately from Ancient Greek κλῆρος (klêros, “lot, share”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest record is in Hilary of Poitiers^[3][4] (c. 315–367 AD),^[4] who writes of men promoted to clerical rank.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It was an Ecclesiastical Latin word for what belongs to the clergy:^[2][5] a Novel of Valentinian III speaks of entering the clerical office, and Sidonius uses it of clerical training and a clerical retinue.^[3][2]

In Medieval Latin it also referred to monks,^[6] and in Britain to clerical dress and tonsure and to benefit of clergy.^[7] English formed clerical in the 1590s, from French or from the noun cleric.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 315–367 AD – Hilary of Poitiers writes of promotion to clerical rank.^[3][4]
• 448 AD – A Novel of Valentinian III speaks of entering the clerical office.^[3][4]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius writes of a clerical retinue.^[2][4]
• 1590s – Borrowed into English as clerical.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the clergy, clerical, priestly.^[2][5][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Of monks.^[6]
3. (Medieval Latin) Relating to clerical dress or tonsure, or to benefit of clergy.^[7]

Related words

• English clerical

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com