the.com/clergy

means The body of people formally ordained or appointed to perform religious leadership and rites within a church or faith.

from From Old French 'clergie,' rooted in Latin 'clericus' (a priest, cleric), which traces back to Greek 'klerikos' — belonging to the 'kleros,' or lot/inheritance. The Greek sense came from the drawing of lots to choose church officials, and from the idea that clergy held God as their special 'portion' or inheritance. The same root gives us 'clerk' — a word that once meant a learned or ordained person before it settled into meaning someone who files paperwork, which is either an irony or a continuity, depending on your church.