CLERGIES
Noun
clergies
plural of clergy
Source: Wiktionary
CLERGY
Cler"gy, n. Etym: [OE. clergie, clergi, clerge, OF. clergie, F.
clergie (fr. clerc clerc, fr. L. clericus priest) confused with OF.
clergié, F. clergé, fr. LL. clericatus office of priest, monastic
life, fr. L. clericus priest, LL. scholar, clerc. Both the Old French
words meant clergy, in sense 1, the former having also sense 2. See
Clerk.]
1. The body of men set apart, by due ordination, to the service of
God, in the Christian church, in distinction from the laity; in
England, usually restricted to the ministers of the Established
Church. Hooker.
2. Learning; also, a learned profession. [Obs.]
Sophictry . . . rhetoric, and other cleargy. Guy of Warwick.
Put their second sons to learn some clergy. State Papers (1515).
3. The privilege or benefit of clergy.
If convicted of a clergyable felony, he is entitled equally to his
clergy after as before conviction. Blackstone.
Benefit of clergy (Eng., Law), the exemption of the persons of
clergymen from criminal process before a secular judge -- a privilege
which was extended to all who could read, such persons being, in the
eye of the law, clerici, or clerks. This privilege was abridged and
modified by various statutes, and finally abolished in the reign of
George IV. (1827).
– Regular clergy, Secular clergy See Regular, n., and Secular, a.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition