Standard Lemma guide

clericalism

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈklɛ.ɹɪ.k(ə)ˌlɪ.z(ə)m/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Political or secular power invested in members of the clergy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • Ireland in decades past saw an excess of clericalism and disregard for the laity.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a policy of supporting the influence and power of the clergy in secular or political matters

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: policy

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English clerical Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English clericalism From clerical + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: clericalisme — secular power invested in members of the clergy
  • Chinese Mandarin: 教權主義 /教权主义 (jiàoquán zhǔyì) — secular power invested in members of the clergy
  • Dutch: klerikalisme — secular power invested in members of the clergy
  • French: cléricalisme — secular power invested in members of the clergy
  • Galician: clericalismo — secular power invested in members of the clergy
  • Hungarian: klerikalizmus — secular power invested in members of the clergy
  • Italian: clericalismo — secular power invested in members of the clergy
  • Russian: клерикализм (klerikalizm) — secular power invested in members of the clergy
  • Swedish: klerikalism — secular power invested in members of the clergy