ecclesiastic(n = noun.person) churchman, cleric, divine - a clergyman or other person in religious orders;
is a kind of clergyman, man of the cloth, reverend
has particulars: ordainer, pardoner, pluralist, a kempis, thomas a kempis, bruno, saint bruno, st. bruno

   ecclesiastic(a = adj.pert) ecclesiastical - of or associated with a church (especially a Christian Church); "ecclesiastic history"

   Of or pertaining to the church. See Ecclesiastical. Swift. [1913 Webster]

   A person in holy orders, or consecrated to the service of the church and the ministry of religion; a clergyman; a priest. [1913 Webster]
"From a humble ecclesiastic, he was subsequently preferred to the highest dignities of the church." [1913 Webster]

ecclesiastic, n. & adj.
--n. a priest or clergyman.
--adj. = ECCLESIASTICAL.

Derivative:
ecclesiasticism n.

Etymology:
F eccl{eacute}siastique or LL ecclesiasticus f. Gk ekklesiastikos f. ekklesia assembly, church: see ECCLESIAL

N  clergy, clericals, ministry, priesthood, presbytery, the cloth, the desk, clergyman, divine, ecclesiastic, churchman, priest, presbyter, hierophant, pastor, shepherd, minister, father, father in Christ, padre, abbe, cure, patriarch, reverend, black coat, confessor, dignitaries of the church, ecclesiarch, hierarch, ebdomarius, eminence, reverence, elder, primate, metropolitan, archbishop, bishop, prelate, diocesan, suffragan, dean, subdean, archdeacon, prebendary, canon, rural dean, rector, parson, vicar, perpetual curate, residentiary, beneficiary, incumbent, chaplain, curate, deacon, deaconess, preacher, reader, lecturer, capitular, missionary, propagandist, Jesuit, revivalist, field preacher, churchwarden, sidesman, clerk, precentor, choir, almoner, suisse, verger, beadle, sexton, sacristan, acolyth, acolothyst, acolyte, altar boy, chorister, Pope, Papa, pontiff, high priest, cardinal, ancient flamen, flamen, confessor, penitentiary, spiritual director, cenobite, conventual, abbot, prior, monk, friar, lay brother, beadsman, mendicant, pilgrim, palmer, canon regular, canon secular, Franciscan, Friars minor, Minorites, Observant, Capuchin, Dominican, Carmelite, Augustinian, Gilbertine, Austin Friars, Black Friars, White Friars, Gray Friars, Crossed Friars, Crutched Friars, Bonhomme, Carthusian, Benedictine, Cistercian, Trappist, Cluniac, Premonstatensian, Maturine, Templar, Hospitaler, Bernardine, Lorettine, pillarist, stylite, abbess, prioress, canoness, religieuse, nun, novice, postulant, prophet, priest, high priest, Levite, Rabbi, Rabbin, Rebbe, scribe, mullah, muezzin, ayatollah, ulema, imaum, imam, sheik, sufi, kahin, kassis, mufti, hadji, dervish, fakir, faquir, brahmin, guru, kaziaskier, poonghie, sanyasi, druid, bonze, santon, abdal, Lama, talapoin, caloyer, the Reverend, the very Reverend, the Right Reverend, ordained, in orders, called to the ministry.