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}.