Holy See

American  

noun

1. Roman Catholic Church. the see of Rome; the office or jurisdiction of the pope.

2. the papal court.

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Holy See British  

noun

1. the see of the pope as bishop of Rome and head of the Church

2. the Roman curia

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Holy See Cultural  

1. In the Roman Catholic Church, the official name for the jurisdiction of the pope (the word see is from the Latin for “seat”).

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Etymology

Origin of Holy See

First recorded in 1755–65

Example Sentences

We’re actually doing a sound project about her for the Holy See pavilion next month.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

The Pentagon and the US ambassador to the Holy See denied The Free Press's account of the January meeting between Colby and Pierre, who has since retired.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

The Holy See, for example, says it understands gender as "grounded on the biological sexual identity that is male and female."

From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025

On Thursday, the Holy See replied with its version of, “Thou shall not tempt us with a good time.”

From Salon • May 10, 2025

The next step was to take an appeal to the Holy See and ask for “Apostoli,” but this was no easy matter.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Lea, Henry Charles