abbacy

American  

[ab-uh-see] / ˈæb ə si /

noun

plural

abbacies

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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Etymology

Origin of abbacy

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

Example Sentences

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

The governor-general Frei still prolonged his official term at Wyl, stirred up the people of the abbacy and conducted their affairs.

From The Life and Times of Ulric Zwingli by Hottinger, Johann Jakob

The Four Masters tell us it was the monks of Drogheda who had expelled him from the abbacy for his own crime.

From Mellifont Abbey, Co. Louth Its Ruins and Associations, a Guide and Popular History by Anonymous

In 1718, he was elected to the abbacy of St. Leopold, in Nancy; and ten years afterwards, to that of Senones, where he spent the remainder of his days.

From The Phantom World or, The philosophy of spirits, apparitions, &c, &c. by Christmas, Henry

The vilest traffickers in souls are all His chapmen, and for gold a prebend’s stall He’ll sell them, or an abbacy or mitre.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume I by Lea, Henry Charles