clericus

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós, “(adj. in church jargon) of the clergy”), from κλῆρος (klêros, “the clergy, what is allotted, a lot, inheritance, originally a shard used in casting lots”).

Noun

clēricus m (genitive clēricī); second declension

(Late Latin) a priest, clergyman or clergywoman, cleric
(Late Latin) a learned man, clerk

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	clēricus	clēricī
genitive	clēricī	clēricōrum
dative	clēricō	clēricīs
accusative	clēricum	clēricōs
ablative	clēricō	clēricīs
vocative	clērice	clēricī

Related terms

Descendants

Italo-Romance:
- Italian: chierico
North-Italian
- Piedmontese: ciri
Gallo-Romance:
- Old Catalan: clèrec, clerc
  - Catalan: clergue, clerc
- Old Francoprovençal: clergo, clerc
  - Franco-Provençal: clerg, clergeon
- Old French: clerc
  - French: clerc
- Occitan: clergue, clerc
Borrowings:
- → English: cleric
  - ⇒ Welsh: clerigwr
- → Old English: clerc
  - Middle English: clerc
    - English: clerk
- → Old Irish: cléirech
  - Irish: cléireach
  - Manx: cleragh
  - Scottish Gaelic: clèireach
- → Old Leonese: clerigu (semi-learned)
- → Old Galician-Portuguese: clerigo, crerigo (semi-learned)
  - Galician: crego, clérigo
  - Portuguese: clérigo, clergo
- → Romanian: cleric (learned)
- → Old Spanish: clerico (semi-learned)
  - Spanish: clérigo

References

“clericus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
clericus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
clericus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
“clerk”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.