clericaladj.n.
/ˈklɛrɪkəl/ A. adj.
1. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of, the clergy or a clergyman (esp. in their professional capacity).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > [adjective]
rulerc1390
reverent1398
ruly?c1450
ecclesiasticala1538
ministerial1561
clerical1592
ecclesiastic1603
cleric1623
reverend1625
clergical1632
clergya1635
hieratical1656
churchmanlike1786
shovel-hatted1832
churchmanly1833
hieratic1866
1592 tr. F. Du Jon Apocalypsis xiii. 17 Clericall tonsure or shaving.
1649 Bp. J. Hall Resol. & Decisions ii. i. 100 Meet for Clericall and Religious persons.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 5 The hard yoke of clerical usurpation.
1829 E. Bulwer-Lytton Devereux I. i. ii. 12 His garb was as little clerical as possible.
1876 J. B. Mozley Serm. preached Univ. of Oxf. iv. 82 The ambition of the clerical order has always been attended by peculiarly repulsive features.
2. Of or pertaining to a clerk or penman (see clerk n. 5), of clerks; esp. in clerical error, an error made in writing anything out.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writer > [adjective] > like or relating to professional writer or copyist
scriptorial1797
clerical1798
clerkish1824
clerkly1839
scribal1855
1798 E. H. Bay Rep. Cases Superior Courts S.-Carolina 80 The syllable ‘out’ being omitted through a clerical mistake in the person who drew the will.
1837 J. Gurwood in Duke of Wellington Dispatches IV. 105 It is supposed that this is a clerical error.
1865 New York World 13 Oct. A clerical force is employed to keep the accounts and attend to the correspondence.
1879 Daily News 16 Sept. 3/3 The clerical service of the Customs.
B. n.
a. A cleric: one of a clerical party.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > [noun]
God's maneOE
priestOE
clerkc1050
secularc1290
vicary1303
minister1340
divinec1380
man of Godc1384
kirkmana1400
man of the churchc1400
cockc1405
Ecclesiastc1405
spiritual1441
ministrator1450
abbé1530
reverend1547
churchman1549
tippet-captain?1550
tippet knight1551
tippet man1551
public minister1564
reading minister1572
clergyman1577
clerk1577
padre1584
minstrel1586
spiritual1600
cleric1623
cassock1628
Levite1640
gownsman1641
teaching elder1642
ecclesiastic1651
religionist1651
crape1682
crape-gown-man1682
man in black1692
soul driver1699
secularist1716
autem jet1737
liturge1737
officiant1740
snub-devil1785
soul doctor1785
officiator1801
umfundisi1825
crape-man1826
clerical1837
God-man1842
Pfarrer1844
liturgist1848
white-choker1851
rook1859
shovel hat1859
sky pilot1865
ecclesiastical1883
joss-pidgin-man1886
josser1887
sin-shiftera1912
sin-buster1931
parch1944
1837 F. Marryat Snarleyyow xxxiii, in Metropolitan Apr. 377 We except the clericals.
1871 Daily News 21 Sept. The German party was to make way for the Czechs and clericals.
1882 P. Schaff et al. Relig. Encycl. I. 31 The Sixth Council of Orleans deposed every clerical who had committed adultery.
b. plural. Clerical garments (colloquial; cf. academicals (see academical n.), canonical dress n. at canonical adj. 1c).
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > vestments > [noun] > collectively
habilimentsa1492
revesture1548
clericals1865
1865 Athenæum No. 1989. 802/3 Donning ‘a suit of clericals’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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adj.n.1592