Church of England


noun
  1. the established church in England, Catholic in faith and order, but incorporating many principles of the Protestant Reformation and independent of the papacy.

Words Nearby Church of England

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How to use Church of England in a sentence

  • The parsons must be respected, and the great Church-of-England feeling of the people must be considered with affectionate regard.

    Phineas Redux | Anthony Trollope
  • Of the "Gospel scheme" this is quite true; of the Church-of-England scheme it is not.

    Studies of Christianity | James Martineau
  • The present incumbent is a model of a Church-of-England clergyman.

    Wild Wales | George Borrow
  • In this tale, all the best characters are sober Church-of-England people.

    Apologia pro Vita Sua | John Henry Newman
  • The last fancy fair, or rather bazaar, held there by the Church-of-England Association, was a very crowded affair.

British Dictionary definitions for Church of England

Church of England

noun
  1. the reformed established state Church in England, Catholic in order and basic doctrine, with the Sovereign as its temporal head

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Church of England

Church of England

The established church (see also established church) in England. The Church of England is Protestant and is governed by bishops, with the king or queen as its official head. One of the primary results of the Reformation, it was founded in the early sixteenth century when King Henry VIII declared that he, not the pope, was the head of the Christian Church in England. The Church of England is the original church of the Anglican Communion.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.