ecclesiastic means of or pertaining to the church; ecclesiastical. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 75 out of 100.
ecclesiastic is pronounced /ɪˌkliː.ziˈæs.tɪk/.
Why “ecclesiastic” is a great word
ECCLESIASTIC — [Adjective] Of or pertaining to the Christian church, especially its organization or clergy. From Middle English ecclesyastyke, from Late Latin ecclēsiasticus ("of the church"), from Ancient Greek ἐκκλησιαστικός (ekklēsiastikós, "of the assembly or church"), from ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, "assembly, church"). Unlike "secular," which denotes the worldly sphere, or "clerical," which narrows to administrative duty, "ecclesiastic" evokes the whole solemn architecture of the church—its laws, its legacy, its vast and cool silence. It is the scent of incense embedded in cold stone, the weight of a bishop's ring, and the precise, echoing cadence of a liturgy unchanged for centuries: the tangible presence of a timeless order in a temporal world.
adj
- Of or pertaining to the church; ecclesiastical.
noun
- A cleric, especially one in a Christian church.