episcopacy
/ɪˈpɪskəpəsi/ noun
Forms episcopacies
- noun The office of bishop and the governance of a church (a religious denomination) by bishops.
- noun Bishops collectively: Synonym of episcopate.
Synonyms
bishopric bishopry bishopdom bishopship bishophood archbishopric archbishopry archbishopdom archbishopship archbishophood episcopate
Etymology
(ate) + -acy and/or episcopa(l) + -cy.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Government of the church by bishops; church government by three distinct orders of ministers --bishops, priests, and deacons --of whom the bishops have an authority superior and of a different kind.
Etymology [See Episcopate.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “episcopacy”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details