Etymologically
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clericus

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Forms

clēricus m (genitive clēricī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós, “of the clergy”),[1][2][3] from κλῆρος (klêros, “lot, allotment, inheritance”),[1][4] which in Latin also gave clerus.[5][4] Christian Greek had used the adjective for “belonging to the clergy” by the 2nd century.[3]

Ancient writers explained the name from the lot: Jerome says that the clergy are so called because they are the Lord's lot or because the Lord is their lot,[6] and Augustine and Isidore of Seville derive it from the casting of lots by which Matthias was chosen, the first man ordained by the apostles.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Cyprian, as an adjective (in clerico ministerio, “in the clerical ministry”) and as a noun for the clergy who serve the Church.[6][4]

Semantic evolution

In Christian Latin a clericus was anyone devoted to divine service in the Church, as opposed to a layman (laicus);[6] the Theodosian Code (319 AD) defines the clergy as those who minister to religion,[6] and Isidore of Seville calls clerics all who serve in the Church.[6][7] Jerome contrasts clerics, who feed the sheep, with monks, who are fed.[6]

In the Middle Ages the word covered every man in holy orders, especially one in the lower orders only, and also a monk, a canon or a young cleric training with a priest;[8] as learning was the clergy's preserve, it came to mean a learned man, a scholar and a scribe.[8][3] Hence Italian chierico, French clerc[6] and English clerk.[3]

Timeline

  • beginning of the 3rd century–258 AD – Cyprian uses it as an adjective and as a noun for the clergy.[6][4]
  • 319 AD – A law in the Theodosian Code defines the clergy.[6]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome explains the name from the Greek word for “lot”.[6][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville applies it to all who serve the Church.[7][4]
  • c. 1200 – English clerk takes it over through Old English and Old French.[3]
  • 1620s – Borrowed into English as cleric.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A member of the clergy, a cleric (opposed to a layman).[6][2][9]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A cleric in the minor orders; a monk; a canon.[8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A learned man, scholar; a scribe, clerk.[8][1]

Adjective

  1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Clerical, of the clergy.[6][8]

Word family

  • clērus
  • English cleric
  • English clerk

Usage notes

The feminine clerica was used in the Middle Ages for a nun.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  7. ^ a b c Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  8. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson