abbacy

American  

[ab-uh-see] / ˈæb ə si /

noun

• abbacies
  plural

1. the rank, rights, privileges, or jurisdiction of an abbot.

2. the term of office of an abbot.

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abbacy British  

/ ˈæbəsɪ /

noun

1. the office, term of office, or jurisdiction of an abbot or abbess

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• abbacies
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of abbacy

1400–50; late Middle English abbacie, abbat ( h ) ie < Late Latin abbātia ( cf. abbey), equivalent to abbāt- ( see abbot) + -ia -ia

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abbacy abbacies

Scrabble annoys me; I can’t trust a game in which a well-played za scores more points than, well, abbacy.

From Slate ● Feb. 19, 2020

At the death of Charles, Ronsard retired to his native province, where he had an abbacy, Croix-Val.

From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury

This was during the abbacy of Leonard Houndalre, who presided over the Community 1402-13.

From The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West by William Henry Hamilton Rogers

There, at the age of twenty-seven, he became a monk; three years later, when Lanfranc was promoted to the abbacy of Caen, he was elected prior.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various

And it is consoling to remember that he got away at last, and kept his abbacy, and, over and above, had a pension from the Earl until he died.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. XXII (of 25) Juvenilia and Other Papers by Robert Louis Stevenson

But in addition the king kept all wealthy posts, such as bishoprics and abbacies, vacant for years at a time and appropriated the revenue meanwhile.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5 English History by Various

Afterwards he went over all England, to all the bishoprics and abbacies that were in this land; and in all he was received with respect.

From The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle by J. H. (James Henry) Ingram

Dioceses were reduced in number; cathedral chapters, abbacies, and prebenderies were suppressed; the fees to the nuncio and to the seminaries were discontinued.

From The War Upon Religion Being an Account of the Rise and Progress of Anti-christianism in Europe by Francis A. (Francis Aloysius) Cunningham

It dates back to the years 1337-1377—that is, the abbacies of Adam de Staunton and Thomas Horton, in whose time so much was done to alter the character of the building.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Gloucester [2nd ed.] A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See by H. J. L. J. (Henri Jean Louis Joseph) Massé

The mode of appointment to bishoprics and abbacies was different among them from what it was in the rest of the country.

From The Eve of the French Revolution by Edward J. (Edward Jackson) Lowell

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