[f. prec. + -ISM; cf. mod.F. cléricalisme.] Clerical principles; clerical rule or influence; clerical partisanship.
1864. Sat. Rev., 470/1. A living protest against clericalism.
1874. Daily News, 11 Feb., 3/7. The triumph of Republicanism in the Haute Saône, a stronghold of clericalism, far outsets the defeat in the Pas-de-Calais.
1883. Fortn. Rev., Feb., 295. The chronic insurrection of the clergy, their hostility to republican institutions, their defiance of national supremacy is what is called in France clericalism.
