cleric
pronunciation
How to pronounce cleric in British English:
UK [ˈklerɪk]
How to pronounce cleric in American English:
US [ˈklɛrɪk]
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- Noun:
- a clergyman or other person in religious orders
Word Origin
- cleric (n.)
- 1620s (also in early use as an adjective), from Church Latin clericus "clergyman, priest," noun use of adjective meaning "priestly, belonging to the clerus;" from Ecclesiastical Greek klerikos "pertaining to an inheritance," but in Greek Christian jargon by 2c., "of the clergy, belonging to the clergy," as opposed to the laity; from kleros "a lot, allotment; piece of land; heritage, inheritance," originally "a shard or wood chip used in casting lots," related to klan "to break" (see clastic). Kleros was used by early Greek Christians for matters relating to ministry, based on Deut. xviii:2 reference to Levites as temple assistants: "Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance," kleros being used as a translation of Hebrew nahalah "inheritance, lot." Or else it is from the use of the word in Acts i:17. A word taken up in English after clerk (n.) shifted to its modern meaning.
Synonym
Example
- 1. One story unearthed by mr withington involves a cleric and two lawyers in yorkshire .
- 2. A leading moderate cleric warns the law goes " against the will of god . "
- 3. A radical cleric and leading opposition figure , abdul majid al-zindani , joined the march 1st protests .
- 4. Once again shia slum-dwellers in baghdad and the south voted in numbers for muqtada al-sadr , a populist cleric .
- 5. After attacks on gay men in iraq in 2009 , muqtada al-sadr , a fiery shia cleric , condemned the killings .