early 15c., from ecclesiastic + -al (1). Related: Ecclesiastically.
Entries linking to ecclesiastical
ecclesiastic adj.
late 15c., from French ecclésiastique and directly from Medieval Latin ecclesiasticus, from Greek ekklesiastikos "of the (ancient Athenian) assembly," in late Greek, "of the church," from ekklesiastes "speaker in an assembly or church, preacher," from ekkalein "to call out," from ek "out" (see ex-) + kalein "to call" (from PIE root *kele- (2) "to shout"). As a noun, "one holding an office in the Christian ministry," 1650s (the earlier noun was ecclesiast, late 14c.); the Latin word also was used as a noun in Late Latin.
-al 1
suffix forming adjectives from nouns or other adjectives, "of, like, related to, pertaining to," Middle English -al, -el, from French or directly from Latin -alis (see -al (2)).