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a member of the clergy or other person in religious orders.
a member of the ecclesia in ancient athens.
.
historical examples

the words mean: sweet-smelling, to make a scale, a fillet, an ecclesiastic.
st. nicholas magazine for boys and girls, vol. 5, may, 1878, no. 7. various

is it your intention to condemn my son to be an ecclesiastic?
the memoirs of madame de montespan, complete madame la marquise de montespan

the name of this rabelaisian ecclesiastic—claw-the-roast—sufficiently indicates the line of the poet’s satire.
renaissance in italy: italian literature john addington symonds

he is a diplomatist, an ecclesiastic, an embodiment of all that is severe and archaic in authority.
italy, the magic land lilian whiting

footnote 345: this ecclesiastic was much in the royal confidence.
henry of monmouth, volume 1 j. endell tyler

far off, in the almost empty nave, an ecclesiastic was preaching.
en route j.-k. (joris-karl) huysmans

if the government knew that fact, did they know, do they know, the exact position in which that ecclesiastic is?
blackwood’s edinburgh magazine, volume 69, no. 427, may, 1851 various

the dress of the ecclesiastic was much more imposing than that of the boatmen.
the adventures of the chevalier de la salle and his companions, in their explorations of the prairies, forests, lakes, and rivers, of the new world, and their interviews with the savage tribes, two hundred years ago john s. c. abbott

yes; but from fifteen francs i sink at once to ten francs; namely, for an ordinary judge, and for an ecclesiastic.
ten years later alexandre dumas, pere

among them was a younger brother of la salle, with an ecclesiastic called m. cavalier, and also a nephew.
the adventures of the chevalier de la salle and his companions, in their explorations of the prairies, forests, lakes, and rivers, of the new world, and their interviews with the savage tribes, two hundred years ago john s. c. abbott

noun
a clergyman or other person in holy orders
adjective
of or -ssociated with the christian church or clergy
adj.

late 15c., from middle french ecclésiastique and directly from late latin ecclesiasticus, from greek ekklesiastikos “of the (ancient athenian) -ssembly,” later, “of the church,” from ekklesiastes “speaker in an -ssembly or church, preacher,” from ekkalein “to call out,” from ek “out” (see ex-) + kalein “to call” (see claim (v.)).