Clergy Meaning
/ˈklɜːdʒi/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA body of persons, such as priests, who are trained and ordained for religious service.
Sentence Examples
All the clergy are against the new law.
Bishops, archbishops and abbots composed the high clergy.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The local ____ gathered to discuss the community's spiritual needs.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ is a person who is ordained for service in a Christian church.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English clergie (attested in the 13th century), from Old French clergie (“learned men”), from Late Latin clēricātus, from Latin clēricus (“one ordained for religious services”), from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós, “of the clergy”). Equivalent to cleric + -ate.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"After years of debate, hundreds of United Methodists from all over the world gathered in St. Louis last week to settle the denomination’s stance on LGBT clergy and same-sex weddings."
— 2019 March 3, Dakin Andone, “Fractured after vote against LGBT clergy, weddings, United Methodists face possible split”, in CNN, archived from the original on 20 Nov 2023:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The local ____ gathered to discuss the community's spiritual needs.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A ____ is a person who is ordained for service in a Christian church.