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

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

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

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 Rogers, William Henry Hamilton

This very curious timepiece is said to have been originally executed by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of the abbey, but at the cost of Adam de Sodbury, who was promoted to the abbacy in 1322.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See by Dearmer, Percy

Let the King send, if he will, and seize the ward; he has the strength and power of doing his will, indeed of taking away the whole of the abbacy.

From The Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond: A Picture of Monastic Life in the Days of Abbot Samson by Brakelond, Jocelin de

For some years the new institute seemed little likely to prosper; few novices came, and in the first years of Stephen’s abbacy it seemed doomed to failure.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 4 "Cincinnatus" to "Cleruchy" by Various

The judicial provisions in the Constitutions of Clarendon were in form annulled, and liberty of election was restored in the case of bishopricks and abbacies.

From History of the English People, Volume I Early England, 449-1071; Foreign Kings, 1071-1204; The Charter, 1204-1216 by Green, John Richard

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

Our country will again become what it was before the Reformation,—a land of moors, and swamps, and forests, with a few patches of indifferent cultivation around our convents and abbacies.

From Pilgrimage from the Alps to the Tiber Or The Influence of Romanism on Trade, Justice, and Knowledge by Wylie, James Aitken

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 Ingram, J. H. (James Henry)

John asked for delay, and attempted to divide his antagonists by offering to the clergy the right of free election to bishoprics and abbacies.

From A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3) From the earliest times to the Death of King Edward VII by Gardiner, Samuel Rawson