| 释义 |
cleric, a. and n.|ˈklɛrɪk|
[ad. late L. clēric-us clergyman, priest, prop. an adj. ‘of or belonging to the clērus’; a. Gr. κληρικ-ός ‘of or pertaining to an inheritance’, in later (Christian) use ‘of or belonging to the ecclesiastical or sacerdotal order’, f. κλῆρος ‘lot, allotment, piece of land, estate, heritage’, used in 2nd c. as a name of the ministerial or sacerdotal order in the church, the clergy. The Greek words were adopted in Latin in this transferred sense only (clērus in Tertullian a 220, clēricus in Jerome 4th c.), with which they passed into Romanic and English. Cf. clerk.
On the history of the application of κλῆρος to the Christian ministry, see Bp. Lightfoot Philippians (1868) 245–6, where its probable origin is seen in the use of the word in Acts i. 17, τόν κλῆρον τῆς διακονίας ταύτης ‘the lot of this ministry’; cf. i. 25. In the time of Jerome, explanations were sought in the use of κλῆρος in Deut. xviii. 2, compared with ix. 29, and parallel passages; and 1 Peter v. 3 was interpreted in this sense. Jerome's explanation is thus repeated in the Apology for the Lollards (c 1400) 43:
‘The clerk..schuld interpret þe calling of his nam, and enforce to be þat he is seid; for a clerk in our speche is seid sort, and þer for are men seid clerkis, for þei are of þe Lordis sort, or for þe Lord is þer part; and for he is þe Lordis part, or haþ þe Lord his part, he au[h]t to haue him s[u]ilk þat he haue þe Lord, and be had of þe Lord.’]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to the clergy, clerical.
1621W. Sclater Tythes (1623) 13 As well Clericke as Layicke. 1649Milton Eikon. ad fin., Above the genius of his cleric elocution. 1829Carlyle Misc. (1857) II. 113 All of us, cleric and laic, seem to be agreed. 1879G. Macdonald P. Faber I. i. 6 With a word he quickened the pace of his cleric steeds.
B. n. A clerical man, a clergyman. Often used instead of the earlier clerk (in sense 1), to avoid the ambiguity of that word.
1621W. Sclater Tythes (1623) 36, I haue now to deale with a Clericke. 1737R. Challoner Catholic Chr. Instr. in Sacr. 7 In case of necessity..baptism may..be administered by any person whatsoever. In which case a cleric, though only in lesser orders, is to be admitted preferably to a layman. 1786Bp. Horsley Serm. Sons Clergy (L.), The cleric who is..the most addicted to a life of study and devotion. 1875M. Pattison Casaubon 417 The professors and governors are all clerics. |