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.
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
When the state Justices originally denied the unemployment tax exemption to a diocesan Catholic Charities Bureau and its associated groups, the 4-3 majority called their activities “secular in nature.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025
McQuaide grew up near Green Township and attended Cincinnati Elder High, an all-male Catholic diocesan school within the Archdiocese of Cincinnati founded in 1912.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2025
She made history by becoming the first female diocesan bishop and the first female bishop in the House of Lords.
From BBC • Nov. 17, 2024
The ecclesiastical salaries shall be re-established whenever the bishop, or the diocesan administrator shall pledge himself in writing to observe the laws of the State.
From The War Upon Religion Being an Account of the Rise and Progress of Anti-christianism in Europe by Cunningham, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius)
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.
