Etymology

clerisy

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Today it means: An elite group of intellectuals; learned people, the literati. Full definition →

German Clerisei ← Late Latin clēricus
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The story

  1. Late Latin · derived fromclēricus
  2. German · derived fromClerisei
  3. English todayclerisy

From Ancient Greek κλῆρος (klêros) + -isy. Introduced by Coleridge, based on German Clerisei (modern Klerisei), from Late Latin clēricus.

Words from the same roots

Late Latinclēricus all →

clerkcleric

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.