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 ( cf. abbey), equivalent to abbāt- ( see 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

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 Stevenson, Robert Louis

The first outcome of the new connexion was his appointment to the abbacy of Aberbrothock by the queen regent, before her marriage, probably in June 1514.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6 "Dodwell" to "Drama" by Various

Zurich and Glarus endeavored to quiet the people of the abbacy by promising to send home a report and afterward to communicate the views of their governments.

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

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