Definition: ecclesiastical

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

ecclesiastical
     adj : of or associated with the Christian Church; "ecclesiastic
           history" [syn: ecclesiastic]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.