ecclesiastical
USuh-klee-zee-AS-tuh-kuhl/əˌkli.ziˈæ.stə.kəl/i-klee-zee-AS-ti-kuhl/əˈkliː.ziˌæ.stɪ.kəl/
- 1Relating to the church or belonging to it.
Disputes over marriage were once settled in ecclesiastical courts rather than civil ones.
The museum's collection of ecclesiastical silver includes chalices and candlesticks.
Similarchurchly, ecclesiastic, ecclesial
Note
Its territory is the church as an institution (its law, courts, offices, buildings and vestments) rather than faith itself. In legal history it pairs with temporal: an ecclesiastical offense was one for the church's courts, a temporal one for the ordinary courts. Ecclesiastic as an adjective is uncommon; when the subject is belief or feeling, religious is usually the better word.
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Origin
Formed from ecclesiastic + the suffix -al.