Clepsine
(||Clep"si*ne) n. (Zoöl.) A genus of fresh-water leeches, furnished with a proboscis. They feed
upon mollusks and worms.
Clepsydra
(Clep"sy*dra) n. [L. from Gr. to steal, conceal + water.] A water clock; a contrivance for
measuring time by the graduated flow of a liquid, as of water, through a small aperture. See Illust. in
Appendix.
Cleptomania
(||Clep`to*ma"ni*a) n. [NL.] See Kleptomania.
Clerestory
(Clere"sto`ry) n. Same as Clearstory.
Clergeon
(Cler"geon) n. [F., dim. of clerc. See Clerk.] A chorister boy. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Clergial
(Cler"gi*al) a. Learned; erudite; clerical. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Clergical
(Cler"gi*cal) a. Of or pertaining to the clergy; clerical; clerkily; learned. [Obs.] Milton.
Clergy
(Cler"gy) n. [OE. clergie, clergi, clerge, OF. clergie, F. clergie (fr. clerc clerc, fr. L. clericus
priest) confused with OF. clergié, F. clergé, fr. LL. clericatus office of priest, monastic life, fr. L. clericus
priest, LL. scholar, clerc. Both the Old French words meant clergy, in sense 1, the former having also
sense 2. See Clerk.]
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. Hooker.
2. Learning; also, a learned profession. [Obs.]
Sophictry . . . rhetoric, and other cleargy.
Guy of Warwick.
Put their second sons to learn some clergy.
State Papers
3. The privilege or benefit of clergy.
If convicted of a clergyable felony, he is entitled equally to his clergy after as before conviction.
Blackstone.
Benefit of clergy (Eng., Law), the exemption of the persons of clergymen from criminal process before
a secular judge — a privilege which was extended to all who could read, such persons being, in the
eye of the law, clerici, or clerks. This privilege was abridged and modified by various statutes, and
finally abolished in the reign of George IV. — Regular clergy, Secular clergy See Regular, n., and
Secular, a.
Clergyable
(Cler"gy*a*ble) a. Entitled to, or admitting, the benefit of clergy; as, a clergyable felony. Blackstone.
Clergyman
(Cler"gy*man) n.; pl. Clergymen An ordained minister; a man regularly authorized to preach
the gospel, and administer its ordinances; in England usually restricted to a minister of the Established
Church.
Cleric
(Cler"ic) n. [AS., fr. L. clericus. See Clerk.] A clerk, a clergyman. [R.] Bp. Horsley.
Cleric
(Cler"ic) a. Same as Clerical.
Clerical
(Cler"ic*al) a. [LL. clericalis. See Clerk.]
1. Of or pertaining to the clergy; suitable for the clergy. "A clerical education." Burke.
2. Of or relating to a clerk or copyist, or to writing. "Clerical work." E. Everett.
