clergy

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈklɝdʒi/ UK /ˈklɜːdʒi/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
the body of people ordained for religious service

Members of the clergy led the procession through the town.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the body of people ordained... ministry priesthoodclericschurchmen ecclesiastics cloth

Opposites

laitylaymen

Word family

Derived forms clergymanclergywomanclergyperson

Related forms cleric clerical clerkclergic

Etymology

From Middle English clergie, from Old French clergie and clergie, ultimately from Late Latin clericus 'clergyman', from Ancient Greek klērikos 'belonging to the clergy', from klēros 'lot, inheritance' (the clergy being the Lord's portion).

clergie Old French clericus Latin klēros Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# clergy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈklɝdʒi
**IPA (UK):** ˈklɜːdʒi

## Meanings
1. the body of people ordained for religious service

## Examples
- Members of the clergy led the procession through the town.

## Synonyms
- ministry
- priesthood
- clerics
- churchmen
- ecclesiastics
- cloth

## Antonyms
- laity
- laymen

## Derived Forms
- clergyman
- clergywoman
- clergyperson

## Related Forms
- cleric
- clerical
- clerk
- clergic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: clergie
- Root: clericus
- Root: klēros

## Etymology
From Middle English clergie, from Old French clergie and clergie, ultimately from Late Latin clericus 'clergyman', from Ancient Greek klērikos 'belonging to the clergy', from klēros 'lot, inheritance' (the clergy being the Lord's portion).

## AI Etymology
Clergy comes from Middle English clergie, from Old French clergie and clergie, ultimately from Late Latin clericus 'clergyman', from Ancient Greek klērikos 'belonging to the clergy', from klēros 'lot, inheritance' (the clergy being the Lord's portion). The historical trail runs through clergie in Old French, clericus in Latin, and klēros in Ancient Greek. Used as a noun, clergy now means "the body of people ordained for religious service", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as clergyman, clergywoman, and clergyperson and related forms such as cleric, clerical, clerk, and clergic. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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