episcopal

[ih-pis-kuh-puhl]

adjective

1. of or relating to a bishop.

   episcopal authority.

2. based on or recognizing a governing order of bishops.

   an episcopal hierarchy.

3. (initial capital letter),  designating the Anglican Church or some branch of it, as the Episcopal Church in America.

noun

1. (initial capital letter),  an Episcopalian.

Episcopal

¹

/ ɪˈpɪskəpəl /

adjective

1. belonging to or denoting the Episcopal Church

episcopal

²

/ ɪˈpɪskəpəl /

adjective

1. of, denoting, governed by, or relating to a bishop or bishops

Other Word Forms

• episcopally adverb
• nonepiscopal adjective
• nonepiscopally adverb
• pseudoepiscopal adjective
• quasi-episcopal adjective
• quasi-episcopally adverb
• Episcopally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of episcopal¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English word from Late Latin word episcopālis. See bishop, -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of episcopal¹

C15: from Church Latin episcopālis, from episcopus _bishop

Example Sentences

What an incredible controversy, that an episcopal bishop should be calling on us to have mercy and to love one another.

From Los Angeles Times

In the run-up to the poll, the head of the episcopal conference - the Catholic co-ordinating body in the country - had lambasted the commission's chief, Denis Kadima, for getting the elections "off to a bad start".

From BBC

“The Russians did not try to Russify the natives,” said the Rev. Deacon Thomas Rivas, the episcopal secretary to the Alaska Orthodox bishop.

From Seattle Times

The diplomatic source said negotiations between the government and the country's Catholic bishops are ongoing over Alvarez's future, and that the formerly jailed prelate was currently at the Catholic episcopal compound in the capital.

From Reuters

It was also the first publication to report on the clergy sex abuse crisis and the episcopal cover-up beginning in the 1980s, many years before the Boston Globe published its own investigation.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• ecclesiastical 
• ministerial 
• monastic 
• pastoral 
• rabbinical