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.
Among the more spectacular examples from St. Vitus is the 1465 reliquary tablet of the diocesan administrator Hanuš of Kolowrat by Master Martin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
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
That the order for imprisonment could not be given without the concurrence of the diocesan in ordinary, or until they had examined each witness a second time.
From The History of the Inquisition of Spain from the Time of its Establishment to the Reign of Ferdinand VII. by Juan Antonio Llorente
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
