Avignon

American  

[a-vee-nyawn] / a viˈnyɔ̃ /

noun

1. a city in and the capital of Vaucluse, in SE France, on the Rhone River: papal residence 1309–77.

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Avignon British  

/ aviɲɔ̃ /

noun

1. a city in SE France, on the Rhône: seat of the papacy (1309–77); famous 12th-century bridge, now partly destroyed. Pop: 85 935 (1999)

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Example Sentences

This was a time tensions between the French monarchy and the papacy that lead to a seven-decade-long relocation of the papacy from Rome to the French-controlled Avignon.

From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026

A separate U.S. official reportedly brought up the fourteenth-century Avignon papacy.

From Salon • Apr. 9, 2026

In the 2024 trial in Avignon that garnered global attention, she declined the option to hold it behind closed doors, saying she wanted the world to know what she had been subjected to.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

The two artists, united by their interest in experimenting with time and space in theater, soon teamed up to create “Einstein on the Beach,” which premiered in 1976 in Avignon, France.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 1, 2025

A horrifying thought occurred to Colonel Cathcart: Suppose Colonel Scheisskopf had already bribed all the men in the room to begin moaning, as they had done at the first Avignon mission.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller