Ecclesiastical

How to spell ecclesiastical

14 letters · 6 syllables

How to pronounce ecclesiastical

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does ecclesiastical mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the Christian Church, its clergy, or its government and affairs.

Ecclesiastical in a sentence

• The dispute was eventually settled by an ecclesiastical court rather than a civil one.

• The museum holds a collection of medieval ecclesiastical robes and silver.

Where does ecclesiastical come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek ekklesia, which originally meant simply 'an assembly of citizens called together', built from ek meaning 'out' and kalein meaning 'to call', so literally 'those called out'. Early Christian writers adopted ekklesia as the word for a gathering of believers, and from there it came to mean the Church itself. Late Latin reshaped the adjective into ecclesiasticus, 'belonging to the Church', and English took it up through Old French and Latin in the fifteenth century. The same Greek root survives in the biblical book of Ecclesiastes, traditionally understood as 'the preacher' or 'one who addresses an assembly'. The tricky spelling, with its silent rhythm of double letters and the unexpected -cc- followed by -sci-, comes straight from the Greek and Latin forms and is the main reason adults stumble over it.

How the word is built

• ecclesi- (from Greek ekklesia: assembly, church)
• -astic (relating to)
• -al (adjective suffix)