clerisy

 
Pronunciation: /ˈklɛrɪsi/

noun

[usually treated as plural]
  • learned or literary people regarded as a social group or class: the clerisy are those who read for pleasure [treated as singular]: he makes Coleridge’s ambitions for a clerisy exclusively conservative

Origin:

early 19th century: apparently influenced by German Klerisei, based on Greek klēros 'heritage' (see cleric)