This week’s theme
Words borrowed from German

This week’s words
kitsch
verboten
ubermensch
gauleiter
clerisy

This week’s comments
AWADmail 743

Next week’s theme
Words coined after animals

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(KLER-i-see)

MEANING:

noun: The well-educated class; the literati; the intelligentsia.

ETYMOLOGY:

From German Klerisei (clergy), from Latin clericus (cleric), from Greek klerikos (belonging to the clergy), from Greek kleros (inheritance). Earliest documented use: 1834. The clerisy, the clergy, and clerks are all cousins, etymologically speaking.

USAGE:

“[Bob Corker’s] mind is unclouded by long immersion in the conventional thinking of the foreign policy clerisy.”
George Will; Why Bob Corker is the Senator to Watch in 2015; The Washington Post; Jan 2, 2015.

See more usage examples of clerisy in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: