Ecclesiastic
(Ec*cle`si*as"tic), n. A person in holy orders, or consecrated to the service of the church
and the ministry of religion; a clergyman; a priest.
From a humble ecclesiastic, he was subsequently preferred to the highest dignities of the church.
Prescott. Ecclesiastical
(Ec*cle`si*as"tic*al) a. [See Ecclesiastical, a.] Of or pertaining to the church; relating to
the organization or government of the church; not secular; as, ecclesiastical affairs or history; ecclesiastical
courts.
Every circumstance of ecclesiastical order and discipline was an abomination.
Cowper. Ecclesiastical commissioners for England,
a permanent commission established by Parliament in
1836, to consider and report upon the affairs of the Established Church. — Ecclesiastical courts,
courts for maintaining the discipline of the Established Church; — called also Christian courts. [Eng.]
— Ecclesiastical law, a combination of civil and canon law as administered in ecclesiastical courts.
[Eng.] — Ecclesiastical modes (Mus.), the church modes, or the scales anciently used. — Ecclesiastical
States, the territory formerly subject to the Pope of Rome as its temporal ruler; — called also States of
the Church.
Ecclesiastically
(Ec*cle`si*as"tic*al*ly) adv. In an ecclesiastical manner; according ecclesiastical rules.
Ecclesiasticism
(Ec*cle`si*as"ti*cism) n. Strong attachment to ecclesiastical usages, forms, etc.
Ecclesiasticus
(Ec*cle`si*as"ti*cus) n. [L.] A book of the Apocrypha.
Ecclesiological
(Ec*cle`si*o*log"ic*al) a. Belonging to ecclesiology.
Ecclesiologist
(Ec*cle`si*ol"o*gist) n. One versed in ecclesiology.
Ecclesiology
(Ec*cle`si*ol"o*gy) n. [Ecclesia + -logy.] The science or theory of church building and
decoration.
Eccritic
(Ec*crit"ic) n. [Gr. secretive, fr. to choose out.] (Med.) A remedy which promotes discharges,
as an emetic, or a cathartic.
Ecderon
(Ec"der*on) n. [NL., fr. Gr. out + skin.] (Anat.) See Ecteron. — Ec`der*on"ic a.
Ecdysis
(||Ec"dy*sis) n.; pl. Ecdyses [NL., fr. Gr. 'e`kdysis a getting out, fr. 'ekdy`ein, to put off;
'ek out + dy`ein to enter.] (Biol.) The act of shedding, or casting off, an outer cuticular layer, as in the
case of serpents, lobsters, etc.; a coming out; as, the ecdysis of the pupa from its shell; exuviation.
Ecgonine
(Ec"go*nine) n. [Gr. 'e`kgonos sprung from.] (Chem.) A colorless, crystalline, nitrogenous
base, obtained by the decomposition of cocaine.
Échauguette
(||É`chau`guette")
n. [F.] A small chamber or place of protection for a sentinel, usually in the
form of a projecting turret, or the like. See Castle.
Eche
(Ech"e) a. or a. pron. Each. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Echelon
(Ech"e*lon) n. [F., fr. échelle ladder, fr. L. scala.]
1. (Mil.) An arrangement of a body of troops when its divisions are drawn up in parallel lines each to
the right or the left of the one in advance of it, like the steps of a ladder in position for climbing. Also
used adjectively; as, echelon distance. Upton
2. (Naval) An arrangement of a fleet in a wedge or V formation. Encyc. Dict.