cleric

Borrowed from Late Latin clēricus, from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós), from κλῆρος (klêros, “a casting lots, drawing lots”), (Europe; many officers at Athens obtained their offices by lot, as opposed to election [Liddell and Scott]), from Proto-Indo-European *kald-, *klād- (“timber, log”), from Proto-Indo-European *kola-, *klā- (“to beat, hew, break, destroy, kill”). Doublet of clerk.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /klɛɹɪk/
• Rhymes: -ɛɹɪk

cleric (plural clerics)

1. A clergy member.

• clergy
• clergyman
• clerical
• clerk

• cleric in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• cleric in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• cleric at OneLook Dictionary Search

• Circle, circle