ecclesiastical

adjective

ec·​cle·​si·​as·​ti·​cal i-ˌklē-zē-ˈa-sti-kəl How to pronounce ecclesiastical (audio)
e-ˌklē-
1
: of or relating to a church especially as an established institution
2
: suitable for use in a church
ecclesiastically adverb

Examples of ecclesiastical in a Sentence

ecclesiastical laws that have been in existence for centuries
Recent Examples on the Web But here murder is motivated not by Satan, but by a loophole in ecclesiastical doctrine, which states that a murderer might attain forgiveness and die in God’s grace, where a suicide cannot, and must be damned. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 20 Feb. 2024 Like in a baroque painting, each was frozen in an expression of ecclesiastical grief, faces contorted, while the receiver to the red line lay in Hendrickson’s limp, upturned palm. Elliot Ackerman, WIRED, 5 Feb. 2024 American ecclesiastical stained glass is abundant and gorgeous, but religious painting is rare. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 20 Jan. 2024 Other highlights include a private garage just big enough to park a Model 3 Tesla, a 36-foot-deep backyard, and, outside the top-floor primary bedroom’s sunken sitting area, a private roof terrace with an ecclesiastical, up-close view of the Gothic Revival Queen of All Saints cathedral. Mark David, Robb Report, 21 Nov. 2023 Taylor depicted the band in a moment of exhausted, focused attention, as Brown, in almost ecclesiastical purple, shuffles casually in front of them. Emily Lordi, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2023 The demon, however, is not so easily vanquished, and Carmen’s lusty ecclesiastical fervor is easily contaminated. Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2023 Either way, the danger, from the viewpoint of official Victorian Christianity, is that the sacred has been redefined without ecclesiastical warrant. James Wood, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023 But the publicity, from ecclesiastical denunciations to stories of viewers fainting in shock, yielded astronomical profit. Adam Bernstein, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ecclesiastical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ecclesiasticall, from Late Latin ecclēsiasticus "of the Christian Church" + Middle English -all -al entry 1 — more at ecclesiastic entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of ecclesiastical was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near ecclesiastical

Cite this Entry

“Ecclesiastical.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecclesiastical. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ecclesiastical

adjective
ec·​cle·​si·​as·​ti·​cal ik-ˌlē-zē-ˈas-ti-kəl How to pronounce ecclesiastical (audio)
e-ˌklē-
variants or ecclesiastic
-tik
: of or relating to a church
ecclesiastical history
ecclesiastically adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on ecclesiastical

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