| n. | 1. | |||||||
| 1. | The body of men set apart, by due ordination, to the service of God, in the Christian church, in distinction from the laity; in England, usually restricted to the ministers of the Established Church. | |||||||
| 2. | Learning; also, a learned profession. | |||||||
| 3. | The privilege or benefit of clergy. If convicted of a clergyable felony, he is entitled equally to his clergy after as before conviction.
| |||||||
| Noun | 1. | clergy - clergymen collectively (as distinguished from the laity) Antonyms: laity, temporalty - everyone except the clergy |
CLERGY. All who are attached to the ecclesiastical ministry are called the
clergy; a clergyman is therefore an ecclesiastical minister.
2. Clergymen were exempted by the emperor Constantine from all civil
burdens. Baronius ad ann. 319, Sec. 30. Lord Coke says, 2 Inst. 3,
ecclesiastical persons have more and greater liberties than other of the
king's subjects, wherein to set down all, would take up a whole volume of
itself.
3. In the United States the clergy is not established by law, but each
congregation or church may choose its own clergyman.