Dictionary

churchly en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /t͡ʃɝt͡ʃ.li/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /t͡ʃɜːt͡ʃ.li/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English *chirchely, *chirchelich, from Old English ċiriclīċ (“ecclesiastical”), equivalent to church + -ly. Cognate with Scots kirkly (“ecclesiastical”), Dutch kerkelijk (“ecclesiastic, ecclesiastical”), German kirchlich (“ecclesiastical, religious, ecclesiastic”), Swedish kyrklig (“ecclesiastical”). Compare also churchlike.

Meanings

1. Pertaining to or relating to the church, its government, forms, or ceremonies; ecclesiastical.
   • [...] upon getting their hearts right in the sight of God, confident, meanwhile, that then all churchly things would not only be conserved, but gathered into right form. 1890, Jens Christian Jensson, American Lutheran biographies:
   • There are gays and lesbians within the Church who steadfastly refuse to leave it, be booted out, or be closeted within it. Their churchly involvement, in this sense, ought not to be merely a matter of curiosity to the non-religious. 1983, David Townsend, “Staying On”, in The Body Politic:
2. Devoted to, or inclined to attach great importance to, the order and ritual of a particular section of the Christian church.
   • And in the Smiths of Stratford, in Suffolk, of whom we would now discourse, a middle class family of no great opulence, we have signs of the churchly instinct passing down from generation to generation, [...] 1890, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology, East Anglian:
3. In accordance with ecclesiastical standards or ceremonies; appropriate for or befitting a church.
   • The church was in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, in the tent of Abraham, and in the palace of David. It must be in every Christian home, and every Christian home must be in the church. In a word, our families must be churchly. 1865, Samuel Philips, The Christian Home:
   • churchly music
4. Characteristic of a church; churchy.

Forms

Deriveds

churchliness · unchurchly · anti-churchly · nonchurchly

Synonyms

churchish · ecclesiastic · churchlike · churchical · churchlike · churchly · ecclesial · ecclesiastical · churchical · churchical · churchy