## 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.

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- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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