Meanings
plural clerics
- A member of a clergy.
Holonyms: clergy; see also Thesaurus:clergy
Synonyms: clergymember, clergyperson
- roleplaying gamesA spellcaster class that receives their spells (especially healing) from their deity.
- not comparableuncommonOf or pertaining to the clergy.
Synonyms: black-collar, clerical, black-collar, clerical, pastoral
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA member of a clergy.
adjectiveOf or pertaining to the clergy.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekκληρικός
- Late Latinclēricus
- Englishcleric
Borrowed from Late Latin clēricus, from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós), from κλῆρος (klêros, “a casting lots, drawing lots”). Many officers at Athens obtained their offices by lot, as opposed to election (Liddell and Scott). Doublet of clerk.
More words from Late Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic قِسِّيس, كَاهِن
- قِسِّيس (qissīs)clergy member
- كَاهِن (kāhin)clergy member
Bulgarian свещенослужи́тел, духо́вник
- свещенослужи́тел (sveštenoslužítel)clergy member
- духо́вник (duhóvnik)clergy member
- свеще́ник (svešténik)clergy member
Catalan clergue
- clergueclergy member
Chinese Mandarin 牧師 /牧师, 教士
- 牧師 /牧师 (mùshī)clergy member
- 教士 (jiàoshì)clergy member
Czech duchovní
- duchovníclergy member
Danish gejstlig
- gejstligclergy member
Dutch geestelijke, clericus
- geestelijkeclergy member
- clericusclergy member
Finnish pappi
- pappiclergy member
French prêtre, ecclésiastique
- prêtreclergy member
- ecclésiastiqueclergy member
- clercclergy member
German Kleriker
- Klerikerclergy member
Greek κληρικός
- κληρικός (klirikós)clergy member
Icelandic klerkur
- klerkurclergy member
Irish cléireach
- cléireachclergy member
Italian chierico
- chiericoclergy member
Japanese 牧師, 聖職者
- 牧師 (bokushi)clergy member
- 聖職者 (seishokusha)clergy member
Korean 성직자
- 성직자 (seongjikja)clergy member
Latin sacerdōs, pontifex
- sacerdōsclergy member
- pontifexclergy member
Norwegian Bokmål geistlig
- geistligclergy member
Polish duchowny, kleryk
- duchownyclergy member
- klerykclergy member
Portuguese clérigo
- clérigoclergy member
Romanian cleric
- clericclergy member
Russian священнослужи́тель, свяще́нник
- священнослужи́тель (svjaščennoslužítelʹ)clergy member
- свяще́нник (svjaščénnik)clergy member
- кли́рик (klírik)clergy member
Slovak duchovný
- duchovnýclergy member
Spanish clérigo
- clérigoclergy member
Swedish klerk
- klerkclergy member
Ukrainian священнослужи́тель, свяще́нник
- священнослужи́тель (svjaščennoslužýtelʹ)clergy member
- свяще́нник (svjaščénnyk)clergy member
- духівни́к (duxivnýk)clergy member
- клі́рик (klíryk)clergy member
Vietnamese mục sư
- mục sưclergy member
Welsh clerigwr
- clerigwrclergy member
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cleric
Anagrams
Cite this entry
cleric. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cleric
“cleric.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cleric. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cleric,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cleric.
Source: cleric on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.