Chapter 68

Eas"ter (?), n. [AS. eáster, eástran, paschal feast, Easter; akin to G. ostern; fr. AS. Eástre, a goddess of light or spring, in honor of whom a festival was celebrated in April; whence this month was called in AS. Eástermnað. From the root of E. east. See East.] 1. An annual church festival commemorating Christ's resurrection, and occurring on Sunday, the second day after Good Friday. It corresponds to the pascha or passover of the Jews, and most nations still give it this name under the various forms of pascha, pasque, pâque, or pask.

2. The day on which the festival is observed; Easter day.

Easter is used either adjectively or as the first element of a compound; as, Easter day or Easter-day, Easter Sunday, Easter week, Easter gifts.

Sundays by thee more glorious break, An Easter day in every week.

Keble.

Easter day, on which the rest of the movable feasts depend, is always the first Sunday after the fourteenth day of the calendar moon which (fourteenth day) falls on, or next after, the 21st of March, according to the rules laid down for the construction of the calendar; so that if the fourteenth day happen on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after. Eng. Cyc.

Easter dues (Ch. of Eng.), money due to the clergy at Easter, formerly paid in communication of the tithe for personal labor and subject to exaction. For Easter dues, Easter offerings, voluntary gifts, have been substituted. -- Easter egg. (a) A painted or colored egg used as a present at Easter. (b) An imitation of an egg, in sugar or some fine material, sometimes made to serve as a box for jewelry or the like, used as an Easter present.

East"er (?), v. i. (Naut.) To veer to the east; -- said of the wind. Russell.

East"er*ling (?), n. [Cf. Sterling.] 1. A native of a country eastward of another; -- used, by the English, of traders or others from the coasts of the Baltic.

Merchants of Norway, Denmark, . . . called . . . Easterlings because they lie east in respect of us.

Holinshed.

2. A piece of money coined in the east by Richard II. of England. Crabb.

3. (Zoöl.) The smew.

East"er*ling, a. Relating to the money of the Easterlings, or Baltic traders. See Sterling.

East"er*ly, a. 1. Coming from the east; as, it was easterly wind.

2. Situated, directed, or moving toward the east; as, the easterly side of a lake; an easterly course or voyage.

East"er*ly, adv. Toward, or in the direction of, the east.

East"ern (?), a. [AS. eástern.] 1. Situated or dwelling in the east; oriental; as, an eastern gate; Eastern countries.

Eastern churches first did Christ embrace.

Stirling.

2. Going toward the east, or in the direction of east; as, an eastern voyage.

Eastern Church. See Greek Church, under Greek.

East"ern*most` (?), a. Most eastern.

East" In"di*an (?; see Indian). Belonging to, or relating to, the East Indies. -- n. A native of, or a dweller in, the East Indies.

East"ing, n. (Naut. & Surv.) The distance measured toward the east between two meridians drawn through the extremities of a course; distance of departure eastward made by a vessel.

East`-in"su*lar (?), a. Relating to the Eastern Islands; East Indian. [R.] Ogilvie.

{ East"ward (?), East"wards (?), } adv. Toward the east; in the direction of east from some point or place; as, New Haven lies eastward from New York.

Eas"y (z"), a. [Compar. Easier (-*r); superl. Easiest.] [OF. aisié, F. aisé, prop. p. p. of OF. aisier. See Ease, v. t.] 1. At ease; free from pain, trouble, or constraint; as: (a) Free from pain, distress, toil, exertion, and the like; quiet; as, the patient is easy. (b) Free from care, responsibility, discontent, and the like; not anxious; tranquil; as, an easy mind. (c) Free from constraint, harshness, or formality; unconstrained; smooth; as, easy manners; an easy style. "The easy vigor of a line." Pope.

2. Not causing, or attended with, pain or disquiet, or much exertion; affording ease or rest; as, an easy carriage; a ship having an easy motion; easy movements, as in dancing. "Easy ways to die." Shak.

3. Not difficult; requiring little labor or effort; slight; inconsiderable; as, an easy task; an easy victory.

It were an easy leap.

Shak.

4. Causing ease; giving freedom from care or labor; furnishing comfort; commodious; as, easy circumstances; an easy chair or cushion.

5. Not making resistance or showing unwillingness; tractable; yielding; complying; ready.

He gained their easy hearts.

Dryden.

He is too tyrannical to be an easy monarch.

Sir W. Scott.

6. Moderate; sparing; frugal. [Obs.] Chaucer.

7. (Com.) Not straitened as to money matters; as, the market is easy; -- opposed to tight.

Honors are easy (Card Playing), said when each side has an equal number of honors, in which case they are not counted as points.

Syn. -- Quiet; comfortable; manageable; tranquil; calm; facile; unconcerned.

Eas"y-chair` (z"*châr`), n. An armchair for ease or repose. "Laugh . . . in Rabelais' easy-chair." Pope.

Eas"y-go`ing (-g`ng), a. Moving easily; hence, mild-tempered; ease-loving; inactive.

Eat (t), v. t. [imp. Ate (t; 277), Obsolescent & Colloq. Eat (t); p. p. Eaten (t"'n), Obs. or Colloq. Eat (t); p. pr. & vb. n. Eating.] [OE. eten, AS. etan; akin to OS. etan, OFries. eta, D. eten, OHG. ezzan, G. essen, Icel. eta, Sw. äta, Dan. æde, Goth. itan, Ir. & Gael. ith, W. ysu, L. edere, Gr. 'e`dein, Skr. ad. √6. Cf. Etch, Fret to rub, Edible.] 1. To chew and swallow as food; to devour; -- said especially of food not liquid; as, to eat bread. "To eat grass as oxen." Dan. iv. 25.

They . . . ate the sacrifices of the dead.

Ps. cvi. 28.

The lean . . . did eat up the first seven fat kine.

Gen. xli. 20.

The lion had not eaten the carcass.

1 Kings xiii. 28.

With stories told of many a feat, How fairy Mab the junkets eat.

Milton.

The island princes overbold Have eat our substance.

Tennyson.

His wretched estate is eaten up with mortgages.

Thackeray.

2. To corrode, as metal, by rust; to consume the flesh, as a cancer; to waste or wear away; to destroy gradually; to cause to disappear.

To eat humble pie. See under Humble. -- To eat of (partitive use). "Eat of the bread that can not waste." Keble. -- To eat one's words, to retract what one has said. (See the Citation under Blurt.) -- To eat out, to consume completely. "Eat out the heart and comfort of it." Tillotson. -- To eat the wind out of a vessel (Naut.), to gain slowly to windward of her.

Syn. -- To consume; devour; gnaw; corrode.

Eat, v. i. 1. To take food; to feed; especially, to take solid, in distinction from liquid, food; to board.

He did eat continually at the king's table.

2 Sam. ix. 13.

2. To taste or relish; as, it eats like tender beef.

3. To make one's way slowly.

To eat, To eat in or into, to make way by corrosion; to gnaw; to consume. "A sword laid by, which eats into itself." Byron. -- To eat to windward (Naut.), to keep the course when closehauled with but little steering; -- said of a vessel.

Eat"a*ble (-*b'l), a. Capable of being eaten; fit to be eaten; proper for food; esculent; edible. -- n. Something fit to be eaten.

Eat"age (-j; 48), n. Eatable growth of grass for horses and cattle, esp. that of aftermath.

Eat"er (-r), n. One who, or that which, eats.

Eath (th), a. & adv. [AS. eáðe.] Easy or easily. [Obs.] "Eath to move with plaints." Fairfax.

Eat"ing (?), n. 1. The act of tasking food; the act of consuming or corroding.

2. Something fit to be eaten; food; as, a peach is good eating. [Colloq.]

Eating house, a house where cooked provisions are sold, to be eaten on the premises.

||Eau` de Co*logne" (?). [F. eau water (L. aqua) + de of + Cologne.] Same as Cologne.

||Eau` de vie" (?). [F., water of life; eau (L. aqua) water + de of + vie (L. vita) life.] French name for brandy. Cf. Aqua vitæ, under Aqua. Bescherelle.

Eave"drop` (?), n. A drop from the eaves; eavesdrop. [R.] Tennyson.

Eaves (?), n. pl. [OE. evese, pl. eveses, AS. efese eaves, brim, brink; akin to OHG. obisa, opasa, porch, hall, MHG. obse eaves, Icel. ups, Goth. ubizwa porch; cf. Icel. upsar- dropi, OSw. opsä-drup water dropping from the eaves. Probably from the root of E. over. The s of eaves is in English regarded as a plural ending, though not so in Saxon. See Over, and cf. Eavesdrop.] 1. (Arch.) The edges or lower borders of the roof of a building, which overhang the walls, and cast off the water that falls on the roof.

2. Brow; ridge. [Obs.] "Eaves of the hill." Wyclif.

3. Eyelids or eyelashes.

And closing eaves of wearied eyes.

Tennyson.

Eaves board (Arch.), an arris fillet, or a thick board with a feather edge, nailed across the rafters at the eaves of a building, to raise the lower course of slates a little, or to receive the lowest course of tiles; -- called also eaves catch and eaves lath. -- Eaves channel, Eaves gutter, Eaves trough. Same as Gutter, 1. -- Eaves molding (Arch.), a molding immediately below the eaves, acting as a cornice or part of a cornice. -- Eaves swallow (Zoöl.). (a) The cliff swallow; -- so called from its habit of building retort-shaped nests of mud under the eaves of buildings. See Cliff swallow, under Cliff. (b) The European swallow.

Eaves"drop` (vz"drp`), v. i. [Eaves + drop.] To stand under the eaves, near a window or at the door, of a house, to listen and learn what is said within doors; hence, to listen secretly to what is said in private.

To eavesdrop in disguises.

Milton.

Eaves"drop`, n. The water which falls in drops from the eaves of a house.

Eaves"drop`per (?), n. One who stands under the eaves, or near the window or door of a house, to listen; hence, a secret listener.

Eaves"drop`ping (?), n. (Law) The habit of lurking about dwelling houses, and other places where persons meet for private intercourse, secretly listening to what is said, and then tattling it abroad. The offense is indictable at common law. Wharton.

Ebb (b), n. (Zoöl.) The European bunting.

Ebb, n. [AS. ebba; akin to Fries. ebba, D. eb, ebbe, Dan. & G. ebbe, Sw. ebb, cf. Goth. ibuks backward; prob. akin to E. even.] 1. The reflux or flowing back of the tide; the return of the tidal wave toward the sea; -- opposed to flood; as, the boats will go out on the ebb.

Thou shoreless flood which in thy ebb and flow Claspest the limits of morality!

Shelley.

2. The state or time of passing away; a falling from a better to a worse state; low state or condition; decline; decay. "Our ebb of life." Roscommon.

Painting was then at its lowest ebb.

Dryden.

Ebb and flow, the alternate ebb and flood of the tide; often used figuratively.

This alternation between unhealthy activity and depression, this ebb and flow of the industrial.

A. T. Hadley.

Ebb (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Ebbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ebbing.] [AS. ebbian; akin to D. & G. ebben, Dan. ebbe. See 2d Ebb.] 1. To flow back; to return, as the water of a tide toward the ocean; -- opposed to flow.

That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow.

Pope.

2. To return or fall back from a better to a worse state; to decline; to decay; to recede.

The hours of life ebb fast.

Blackmore.

Syn. -- To recede; retire; withdraw; decay; decrease; wane; sink; lower.

Ebb, v. t. To cause to flow back. [Obs.] Ford.

Ebb, a. Receding; going out; falling; shallow; low.

The water there is otherwise very low and ebb.

Holland.

Ebb" tide` (?). The reflux of tide water; the retiring tide; -- opposed to flood tide.

E"bi*o*nite (?), n. [Heb. ebyonm poor people.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a sect of heretics, in the first centuries of the church, whose doctrine was a mixture of Judaism and Christianity. They denied the divinity of Christ, regarding him as an inspired messenger, and rejected much of the New Testament.

E"bi*o*ni`tism (?), n. (Eccl. Hist.) The system or doctrine of the Ebionites.

Eb"la*nin (?), n. (Chem.) See Pyroxanthin.

Eb"lis (?), n. [Ar. iblis.] (Moham. Myth.) The prince of the evil spirits; Satan. [Written also Eblees.]

Eb"on (?), a. 1. Consisting of ebony.

2. Like ebony, especially in color; black; dark.

Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne.

Young.

Eb"on, n. Ebony. [Poetic] "Framed of ebon and ivory." Sir W. Scott.

Eb"on*ist (?), n. One who works in ebony.

Eb"on*ite (?), n. (Chem.) A hard, black variety of vulcanite. It may be cut and polished, and is used for many small articles, as combs and buttons, and for insulating material in electric apparatus.

Eb"on*ize (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ebonized (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Ebonizing.] To make black, or stain black, in imitation of ebony; as, to ebonize wood.

Eb"on*y (?), n.; pl. Ebonies (#). [F. ébène, L. ebenus, fr. Gr. &?;; prob. of Semitic origin; cf. Heb. hobnm, pl. Cf. Ebon.] A hard, heavy, and durable wood, which admits of a fine polish or gloss. The usual color is black, but it also occurs red or green.

The finest black ebony is the heartwood of Diospyros reticulata, of the Mauritius. Other species of the same genus (D. Ebenum, Melanoxylon, etc.), furnish the ebony of the East Indies and Ceylon. The West Indian green ebony is from a leguminous tree (Brya Ebenus), and from the Excæcaria glandulosa.

Eb"on*y, a. Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony countenance.

This ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling.

Poe.

E*brac"te*ate (?), a. [Pref. e- + bracteate.] (Bot.) Without bracts.

E*brac"te*o*late (?), a. [Pref. e- + bracteolate.] (Bot.) Without bracteoles, or little bracts; -- said of a pedicel or flower stalk.

E*brau"ke (?), a. [L. Hebraicus: cf. F. Hébraïque.] Hebrew. [Obs.] Chaucer.

E*bri"e*ty (?), n.; pl. Ebrieties (#). [L. ebrietas, from. ebrius intoxicated: cf. F. ébriéte. Cf. So&?;er.] Drunkenness; intoxication by spirituous liquors; inebriety. "Ruinous ebriety." Cowper.

<! p. 468 !>

E*bril"lade (*brl"ld), n. [F.] (Man.) A bridle check; a jerk of one rein, given to a horse when he refuses to turn.

E`bri*os"i*ty (`br*s"*t), n. [L. ebriositas, from ebriousus given to drinking, fr. ebrius. See Ebriety.] Addiction to drink; habitual drunkenness.

E"bri*ous (`br*s), a. [L. ebrius.] Inclined to drink to excess; intoxicated; tipsy. [R.] M. Collins.

E*bul"li*ate (?), v. i. To boil or bubble up. [Obs.] Prynne.

{ E*bul"lience (?; 106), E*bul"lien*cy (?), } n. A boiling up or over; effervescence. Cudworth.

E*bul"lient (?), a. [L. ebulliens, -entis, p. pr. of ebullire to boil up, bubble up; e out, from + bullire to boil. See 1st Boil.] Boiling up or over; hence, manifesting exhilaration or excitement, as of feeling; effervescing. "Ebullient with subtlety." De Quincey.

The ebullient enthusiasm of the French.

Carlyle.

E*bul"li*o*scope (?), n. [L. ebullire to boil up + -scope.] (Phys. Chem.) An instrument for observing the boiling point of liquids, especially for determining the alcoholic strength of a mixture by the temperature at which it boils.

Eb`ul*li"tion (?), n. [F. ébullition, L. ebullitio, fr. ebullire. See Ebullient.] 1. A boiling or bubbling up of a liquid; the motion produced in a liquid by its rapid conversion into vapor.

2. Effervescence occasioned by fermentation or by any other process which causes the liberation of a gas or an aëriform fluid, as in the mixture of an acid with a carbonated alkali. [Formerly written bullition.]

3. A sudden burst or violent display; an outburst; as, an ebullition of anger or ill temper.

Eb"ur*in (?), n. A composition of dust of ivory or of bone with a cement; -- used for imitations of valuable stones and in making moldings, seals, etc. Knight.

E`bur*na"tion (?), n. [L. eburnus of ivory, fr. ebur ivory: cf. F. éburnation. See Ivory.] (Med.) A condition of bone cartilage occurring in certain diseases of these tissues, in which they acquire an unnatural density, and come to resemble ivory.

E*bur"ne*an (?), a. [L. eburneus, fr. ebur ivory. See Ivory.] Made of or relating to ivory.

E*bur`ni*fi*ca"tion (?), n. [L. eburnus of ivory (fr. ebur ivory) + facere to make.] The conversion of certain substances into others which have the appearance or characteristics of ivory.

Eb"ur*nine (?), a. Of or pertaining to ivory. "[She] read from tablet eburnine." Sir W. Scott.

||E*car"di*nes (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. L. e out, without + cardo a hinge.] (Zoöl.) An order of Brachiopoda; the Lyopomata. See Brachiopoda.

||É`car`té" (?), n. [F., prop. fr. écarter to reject, discard.] A game at cards, played usually by two persons, in which the players may discard any or all of the cards dealt and receive others from the pack.

E*cau"date (?), a. [Pref. e- + caudate.] 1. (Bot.) Without a tail or spur.

2. (Zoöl.) Tailless.

||Ec*bal"li*um (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?;. See Ecbole.] (Bot.) A genus of cucurbitaceous plants consisting of the single species Ecballium agreste (or Elaterium), the squirting cucumber. Its fruit, when ripe, bursts and violently ejects its seeds, together with a mucilaginous juice, from which elaterium, a powerful cathartic medicine, is prepared.

||Ec"ba*sis (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?; a going out, issue, or event; &?; out + &?; to go.] (Rhet.) A figure in which the orator treats of things according to their events consequences.

Ec*bat"ic (?), a. [See Ecbasis.] (Gram.) Denoting a mere result or consequence, as distinguished from telic, which denotes intention or purpose; thus the phrase &?; &?;, if rendered "so that it was fulfilled," is ecbatic; if rendered "in order that it might be." etc., is telic.

||Ec"bo*le (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a throwing out, a digression, fr. &?; to throw out; &?; out of + &?; to throw.] (Rhet.) A digression in which a person is introduced speaking his own words.

Ec*bol"ic (?), n. [See Ecbole.] (Med.) A drug, as ergot, which by exciting uterine contractions promotes the expulsion of the contents of the uterus.

Ec"bo*line (?; 104), n. [Gr. &?; a throwing out; &?; out + &?; to throw.] (Chem.) An alkaloid constituting the active principle of ergot; -- so named from its power of producing abortion.

Ec`ca*le*o"bi*on (?), n. [Gr. &?; to call out (&?; out of + &?; to call) + &?; life.] A contrivance for hatching eggs by artificial heat.

||Ec"ce ho"mo (?). [L., behold the man. See John xix. 5.] (Paint.) A picture which represents the Savior as given up to the people by Pilate, and wearing a crown of thorns.

Ec*cen"tric (?), a. [F. excentrique, formerly also spelled eccentrique, fr. LL. eccentros out of the center, eccentric, Gr. &?;; &?; out of + &?; center. See Ex-, and Center, and cf. Excentral.] 1. Deviating or departing from the center, or from the line of a circle; as, an eccentric or elliptical orbit; pertaining to deviation from the center or from true circular motion.

2. Not having the same center; -- said of circles, ellipses, spheres, etc., which, though coinciding, either in whole or in part, as to area or volume, have not the same center; -- opposed to concentric.

3. (Mach.) Pertaining to an eccentric; as, the eccentric rod in a steam engine.

4. Not coincident as to motive or end.

His own ends, which must needs be often eccentric to those of his master.

Bacon.

5. Deviating from stated methods, usual practice, or established forms or laws; deviating from an appointed sphere or way; departing from the usual course; irregular; anomalous; odd; as, eccentric conduct. "This brave and eccentric young man." Macaulay.

He shines eccentric, like a comet's blaze.

Savage.

Eccentric anomaly. (Astron.) See Anomaly. -- Eccentric chuck (Mach.), a lathe chuck so constructed that the work held by it may be altered as to its center of motion, so as to produce combinations of eccentric combinations of eccentric circles. -- Eccentric gear. (Mach.) (a) The whole apparatus, strap, and other parts, by which the motion of an eccentric is transmitted, as in the steam engine. (b) A cogwheel set to turn about an eccentric axis used to give variable rotation. -- Eccentric hook or gab, a hook-shaped journal box on the end of an eccentric rod, opposite the strap. -- Eccentric rod, the rod that connects as eccentric strap with any part to be acted upon by the eccentric. -- Eccentric sheave, or Eccentric pulley, an eccentric. -- Eccentric strap, the ring, operating as a journal box, that encircles and receives motion from an eccentric; -- called also eccentric hoop.

Syn. -- Irregular; anomalous; singular; odd; peculiar; erratic; idiosyncratic; strange; whimsical.

Ec*cen"tric (?), n. 1. A circle not having the same center as another contained in some measure within the first.

2. One who, or that which, deviates from regularity; an anomalous or irregular person or thing.

3. (Astron.) (a) In the Ptolemaic system, the supposed circular orbit of a planet about the earth, but with the earth not in its center. (b) A circle described about the center of an elliptical orbit, with half the major axis for radius. Hutton.

4. (Mach.) A disk or wheel so arranged upon a shaft that the center of the wheel and that of the shaft do not coincide. It is used for operating valves in steam engines, and for other purposes. The motion derived is precisely that of a crank having the same throw.

Back eccentric, the eccentric that reverses or backs the valve gear and the engine. -- Fore eccentric, the eccentric that imparts a forward motion to the valve gear and the engine.

Ec*cen"tric*al (?), a. See Eccentric.

Ec*cen"tric*al*ly, adv. In an eccentric manner.

Drove eccentrically here and there.

Lew Wallace.

Ec`cen*tric"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Eccentricities (#). [Cf. F. excentricité.] 1. The state of being eccentric; deviation from the customary line of conduct; oddity.

2. (Math.) The ratio of the distance between the center and the focus of an ellipse or hyperbola to its semi-transverse axis.

3. (Astron.) The ratio of the distance of the center of the orbit of a heavenly body from the center of the body round which it revolves to the semi-transverse axis of the orbit.

4. (Mech.) The distance of the center of figure of a body, as of an eccentric, from an axis about which it turns; the throw.

Ec"chy*mose (?), v. t. (Med.) To discolor by the production of an ecchymosis, or effusion of blood, beneath the skin; -- chiefly used in the passive form; as, the parts were much ecchymosed.

||Ec`chy*mo"sis (?), n.; pl. Ecchymoses (&?;). [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to extravasate; &?; out of + &?; to pour.] (Med.) A livid or black and blue spot, produced by the extravasation or effusion of blood into the areolar tissue from a contusion.

Ec`chy*mot"ic (?), a. Pertaining to ecchymosis.

Ec"cle (?), n. (Zoöl.) The European green woodpecker; -- also called ecall, eaquall, yaffle. [Prov. Eng.]

||Ec*cle"si*a (?), n.; pl. Ecclesiæ (&?;). [L., fr. Gr. &?;.] 1. (Gr. Antiq.) The public legislative assembly of the Athenians.

2. (Eccl.) A church, either as a body or as a building.

Ec*cle"si*al (?), a. Ecclesiastical. [Obs.] Milton.

Ec*cle"si*arch (?), n. [LL. ecclesiarcha, fr. Gr. &?; church + &?; to rule: cf. F. ecclésiarque.] An official of the Eastern Church, resembling a sacrist in the Western Church.

Ec*cle"si*ast (?), n. 1. An ecclesiastic. Chaucer.

2. The Apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus. [Obs.]

Ec*cle`si*as"tes (?), n. [L., fr. Gr. &?; a preacher. See Ecclesiastic, a.] One of the canonical books of the Old Testament.

Ec*cle`si*as"tic (?; 277), a. [L. ecclesiasticus, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; an assembly of citizens called out by the crier; also, the church, fr. &?; called out, fr. &?; to call out; &?; out + &?; to call. See Ex-, and Hale, v. t., Haul.] Of or pertaining to the church. See Ecclesiastical. "Ecclesiastic government." Swift.

Ec*cle`si*as"tic, n. A person in holy orders, or consecrated to the service of the church and the ministry of religion; a clergyman; a priest.

From a humble ecclesiastic, he was subsequently preferred to the highest dignities of the church.

Prescott.

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.