English
clerical
Clerical comes from Late Latin clēricus ‘clergyman, priest’, and goes back to Ancient Greek κλῆρος.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκλῆροςklêros‘the clergy, what is allotted, a lot, inheritance, originally a shard used in casting lots’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκληρικός‘of the clergy’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEclēricus‘clergyman, priest’
- Late Latin, derivedc. 200–600 CEclēricālis
- Englishearliest quotation 1899clerical
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκλῆροςklêros‘the clergy, what is allotted, a lot, inheritance, originally a shard used in casting lots’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEκληρικός‘of the clergy’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEclēricus‘clergyman, priest’
- Late Latin, derivedc. 200–600 CEclēricālis
- Englishearliest quotation 1899clerical
Earliest quotation: 1899, Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness: “‘The groans of this sick person,’ he said, ‘distract…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kelh₂- ‘to hit, cut down’
coup, holly, holt, gladiator, calamity, gladiolus, clade, calamitous, clematis, 30 more
through Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂- ‘to put’
last, loot, ladle, lade, 7 more
through Late Latin clēricus ‘clergyman, priest’
Today it means
adj Of or relating to clerks or their work.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek κλῆρος / clerical