clerical

See also: clérical

English

Etymology

From Late Latin clēricālis (“clerical”), from clēricus (“clergyman, priest”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈklɛɹɪkəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

clerical (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to clerks or their work.
   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I:

     ‘The groans of this sick person,’ he said, ‘distract my attention. And without that it is extremely difficult to guard against clerical errors in this climate.’

   • 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:

     "Yes," agreed Carrados, "naturally—where they make the Bank of England note paper. And how extraordinarily interesting his work there must be. Has he to do directly with the paper when it's made or is his department purely clerical?"

2. Of or relating to the clergy.

   Synonyms: black-collar, cleric; see also Thesaurus:clerical

Derived terms

• clerical collar
• clerical error
• clericalism
• clericalist
• clericality
• clericalization
• clericalize
• clerically
• clerical marriage
• clerical script
• interclerical
• nonclerical
• preclerical
• pseudoclerical
• semiclerical
• unclerical

Related terms

• clergy
• clergyman
• cleric
• clerk

Translations

of or relating to clerks or their work

• Bulgarian: канцеларски (bg) (kancelarski)
• Czech: úřednický, kancelářský (cs), administrativní (cs)
• Dutch: administratief (nl)
• Finnish: toimisto-
• French: administratif (fr)
• Greek: υπαλληλικός (el) (ypallilikós), γραφειοκρατικός (el) (grafeiokratikós)
• Irish: cléireachais (genitive form of noun)
• Italian: d'ufficio, amministrativo (it), burocratico (it)
• Manx: cleree (genitive form of noun)
• Polish: biurowy (pl)
• Russian: канцеля́рский (ru) (kanceljárskij)
• Scottish Gaelic: clèireachail

of or relating to the clergy

• Armenian: կղերական (hy) (kġerakan)
• Bulgarian: свещенически (bg) (svešteničeski), духовен (bg) (duhoven)
• Catalan: clerical (ca)
• Czech: kněžský (cs), duchovní (cs), klerikální
• Dutch: klerikaal (nl), geestelijk (nl)
• Finnish: papillinen
• French: clérical (fr)
• Galician: clerical (gl)
• German: klerikal (de), geistlich (de), priesterlich (de)
• Greek: κληρικός (el) (klirikós), ιερατικός (el) (ieratikós)

  Ancient Greek: κληρικός (klērikós)

• Irish: cléiriúil
• Italian: clericale (it)
• Manx: agglishagh, saggyrtoil
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: geistlig

  Nynorsk: geistleg

• Portuguese: clerical
• Russian: духо́вный (ru) (duxóvnyj), церко́вный (ru) (cerkóvnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: clèireachail
• Spanish: clerical (es)
• Tagalog: simbahanin
• Welsh: clerigol (cy)

Noun

clerical (plural clericals)

1. (now uncommon) A member of the clergy. [from 19th c.]

   Synonyms: blackcoat, clergymember, clergyperson; see also Thesaurus:cleric

2. (in the plural, informal) Clerical garments. [from 19th c.]

Further reading

• “clerical”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “clerical”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin clēricālis (“clerical”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [klə.ɾiˈkal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kle.ɾiˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

clerical m or f (masculine and feminine plural clericals)

1. clerical (of or relating to the clergy)

Derived terms

• anticlerical
• clericalisme

Further reading

• “clerical”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “clerical”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “clerical” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “clerical”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Galician

Etymology

From Late Latin clēricālis (“clerical”).

Adjective

clerical m or f (plural clericais)

1. clerical (of or relating to the clergy)

Derived terms

• clericalismo

Related terms

• clero

Further reading

• “clerical”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin clēricālis (“clerical”), from clēricus (“clergyman, priest”).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kle.ɾiˈkaw/ [kle.ɾiˈkaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /klɛ.ɾiˈkal/ [klɛ.ɾiˈkaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /klɛ.ɾiˈkal/ [klɛ.ɾiˈkaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /klɛ.ɾiˈka.li/

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: re‧ci‧tal

Adjective

clerical m or f (plural clericais)

1. clerical (of or relating to the clergy)

Derived terms

• anticlerical
• clericalismo

Related terms

• clero

Further reading

• “clerical”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “clerical”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French clérical, from Latin clericalis. By surface analysis, cleric +‎ -al.

Adjective

clerical m or n (feminine singular clericală, masculine plural clericali, feminine/neuter plural clericale)

1. clerical

Declension

Declension of clerical

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	clerical		clericală	clericali	clericale
	definite	clericalul		clericala	clericalii	clericalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	clerical		clericale	clericali	clericale
	definite	clericalului		clericalei	clericalilor	clericalelor

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin clēricālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kleɾiˈkal/ [kle.ɾiˈkal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: cle‧ri‧cal

Adjective

clerical m or f (masculine and feminine plural clericales)

1. (relational) clergy; clerical (of or relating to the clergy)

Derived terms

• anticlerical
• clericalismo

Related terms

• clérigo

Further reading

• “clerical”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025