Faith & RitualGreek → English
Ecclesiastical
/ɪˌkliːziˈæstɪkəl/adjective
Having to do with the church, its clergy, courts and institutions.
The Greek roots
ἐκκλησία
ekklēsía
assembly, church
ἐκ
ek
out of
καλέω
kaléō
to call, summon
Literally: “belonging to those called out”
The story of the word
The Athenian ἐκκλησία met on the Pnyx hill when a herald called the citizens out of their houses to vote, and a police force of Scythian archers with a rope dipped in red dye herded stragglers in from the marketplace. Anyone marked by the rope was fined. The word passed into the Greek scriptures for the congregation, and from there into Latin as ecclesia, which is why the Church in French is église.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 15th century
Same family
ecclesiologyEcclesiasteségliseparaclete
In a sentence
The dispute went to an ecclesiastical court, which took four years to say nothing much.