Ecclesiastic

(Synop., § 130), a. [Fr. ecclésiastique, Lat. ecclesiasticus, Gr. ἐκκλησιαστικός, from Lat. ecclesia, Gr. ἐκκλησία, an assembly of citizens called out by the crier; the church, from ἐκκλητός, called out, from ἐκκαλεῖν, to call out, from ἐκ and καλεῖν, to call.] Pertaining to the church; relating to the organization or government of the church; not secular; as, ecclesiastical affairs, history, or polity; ecclesiastical courts.

Every circumstance of ecclesiastical order and discipline was an abomination. Cowper.

Ecclesiastical modes (Mus.), the church modes, or the keys anciently used.—Ecclesiastical States, the territory subject to the Pope of Rome as its temporal ruler.