Clerisy
/ˈklɛr.ɪ.si/noun
The educated or learned class, especially in relation to literature, scholarship, or intellectual life.
Did you know?Clerisy was popularized in the 19th century by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who used it to describe a cultural priesthood of educated people, echoing the older idea that literacy itself could be a kind of power.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱleu-
“to hear, listen to”
Latin
Latin
clārus
“clear, bright, famous”
Late Latin
Latin
clēricus
“cleric, one in holy orders”
Old French
Old French
clerc
“clerk, scholar, learned person”
Middle English
English
clerisy
“the learned class; clergy or scholars”
19th Century
English
clerisy
“the educated or literary class, especially as a cultural elite”