clergy

cler·gy

noun \ˈklər-jē\

: people (such as priests) who are the leaders of a religion and who perform religious services

plural clergies

Full Definition of CLERGY

1

:  a group ordained to perform pastoral or sacerdotal functions in a Christian church

2

:  the official or sacerdotal class of a non-Christian religion

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Examples of CLERGY

1. Local clergy have been invited to participate in an interfaith service.
2. a member of the clergy

Origin of CLERGY

Middle English clergie, from Anglo-French, from clerc clergyman

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to CLERGY

Synonyms

church, cloth, first estate, ministry, spirituality, spiritualty

Antonyms

laity

Related Words

diaconate, episcopate, hierarchy, presbytery; clerkship, monkhood, priesthood

Other Christian Religious Terms

Pentateuch, blasphemy, curate, doxology, eremite, iconoclasm, liturgy, orison, pneuma, reliquary