What does clerisy mean?
Clerisy is a formal noun denoting the learned or intellectual class of a society — its scholars, writers, teachers, and thinkers regarded collectively. The term was coined by the English poet-philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his 1830 work 'On the Constitution of the Church and State', in which he argued that a nation needed a permanent body of educated people to preserve knowledge, cultivate culture, and guide public understanding. Drawing on the vocabulary of religion, Coleridge imagined this class as a kind of secular successor to the clergy: guardians of learning whose duty was to the whole community rather than to any single faction. In modern usage, clerisy appears mostly in literary, historical, and sociological writing, often with a slightly ironic edge when commentators speak of an intellectual elite's influence on politics or taste. Its synonyms include intelligentsia and literati, though clerisy remains distinctly rarer and more bookish. For readers interested in the history of ideas or debates about expertise and cultural authority, it offers a precise, evocative term for society's custodians of knowledge.
nounThe learned or educated class of a society; intellectuals and scholars regarded collectively as a distinct social group.
- The educated, learned, or intellectual class of a society considered as a whole; the intelligentsia.
"In the eighteenth century, the clerisy shaped public taste through journals, sermons, and salons."
"Coleridge envisioned a national clerisy that would preserve and transmit culture to every corner of society."
"The modern clerisy — professors, critics, and public intellectuals — no longer commands the authority it once did."
Rarely used; the singular is normally treated as a collective noun. The plural appears mainly in scholarly writing contrasting different societies or historical periods.
"Comparative historians have examined how different national clerisies legitimated state power."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge coined 'clerisy' in the 1830s to describe a national class of learned guardians — and the word is so rare today that using it instantly marks you as one of them.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does clerisy come from?
Clerisy was coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first appearing in print in his 1830 treatise 'On the Constitution of the Church and State'. He adapted it from the German 'Klerisei', meaning clergy, which itself derives from medieval Latin 'clericia' — ultimately from Greek 'klērikos', 'of the clergy', from 'klēros', 'lot' (originally referring to those chosen by lot for church office). Coleridge broadened the sense from ordained clergy to the entire learned class of a nation, religious and lay alike. It shares this Greek root with cognate English words such as cleric, clerk, clergy, and clerical.
How clerisy is actually used
A formal, somewhat literary word, most often encountered in historical, philosophical, or sociological discussion. It carries a faintly bookish or ironic tone when applied to contemporary culture. Coined by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (in 'On the Constitution of the Church and State', 1830), it originally denoted the learned class broadly conceived — including clergy and laity alike — but is now used almost exclusively for secular intellectuals.
Easily confused with clerisy
Clergy refers to ordained religious officials, while clerisy refers to the educated intellectual class of society, whether religious or secular.