adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of diocesan
1400–50; late Middle English (< Anglo-French ) < Medieval Latin dioecēsānus. See diocese, -an
Explanation
Anything diocesan relates to a diocese, which is an area that a senior Catholic priest is in charge of. You might see it in phrases like “diocesan newspapers,” “diocesan policies,” or “diocesan officials.” If you hear this word rather than see it, its relationship to its root (diocese) may not be obvious because of the shift in stress. Diocesan is simply the adjective of diocese, the territorial jurisdiction of a Catholic bishop. The immediate root is from a Latin word for an “administrative division,” and that meaning is still important. All diocesan affairs relate to how the diocese is organized and run by Catholic officials and clergy under the bishop.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was murdered by two Japanese defectors, a diocesan investigation concluded in 2017.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
My great-uncle Dan was a diocesan priest at St. Charles Borromeo in Drexel Hill, Pa. Dan was a fire-and-brimstone hard-liner.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
The Boston Archdiocese’s 2003 agreement to pay $85 million to more than 500 victims marked the moment the crisis shifted from isolated diocesan scandals to a nationwide institutional failure.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
Representing the church was the diocesan administrator, Monsignor Kevin Gillespie, the now retired Bishop Philip Boyce and the Bishop of Down and Connor, Bishop Alan McGuckian.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026
Dissensions between the Bishop of Manila and the friars who refused to submit to his diocesan visit.
From The Inhabitants of the Philippines by Frederic H. Sawyer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
