datary

American  

[dey-tuh-ree] / ˈdeɪ tə ri /

noun

Roman Catholic Church.

plural

dataries

1. the office of the Curia Romana that investigates candidates for papal benefices.

2. the cardinal who heads this office.

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datary British  

/ ˈdeɪtərɪ /

noun

1. RC Church the head of the dataria ( deɪˈtɛərɪə ), the papal office that assesses candidates for benefices reserved to the Holy See

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Other Word Forms

• subdatary noun

Etymology

Origin of datary

1520–30; < Medieval Latin *datāria the office (where documents were dated); datārius the officer (who gave the dates), equivalent to Late Latin dat ( a ) date ¹ + Latin -āria, -ārius -ary

Example Sentences

Clement, who wished to employ him in Florence, did all he could to set him free, and gave him for his attorney in this matter Messer Tommaso da Prato, who was afterwards datary.

From The Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti by Symonds, John Addington

In these cases the clergy have recourse to the pope, and demand a bull called bulla de composicion, for which the datary at Rome exacts a considerable sum of money. 

From Roman Catholicism in Spain by Anonymous