commandery
/kəˈmænd(ə)ɹi/ noun
Forms commanderies commandary commandry commandarie commanderie commaundrie commaundarie commaunderie commaundry commaundary commaundery
- noun (historical) The smallest division of a manor under the control of a commander of an order of knights, originally only the Knights Hospitaller.
- noun (historical) Any of various administrative divisions of imperial China.
- noun A chapter of a secret order, especially the Knights Templar (order affiliated with Freemasonry).
Synonyms
Etymology
From French commanderie, from Late Latin commendaria, from Latin commendare.
In the Chinese administrative division sense, used as a translation of 府 (fǔ) and 郡 (jùn).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The office or rank of a commander. [Obs.]
- noun A district or a manor with lands and tenements appertaining thereto, under the control of a member of an order of knights who was called a commander; --called also a preceptory.
Etymology [F. commanderie.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “commandery”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details