papacy

[ pey-puh-see ]
/ ˈpeɪ pə si /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR papacy ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural pa·pa·cies.Roman Catholic Church.

the office, dignity, or jurisdiction of the pope.
the system of ecclesiastical government in which the pope is recognized as the supreme head.
the period during which a certain pope is in office.
the succession or line of the popes.

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Origin of papacy

1350–1400; Middle English papacie<Medieval Latin pāpātia.See pope, -acy

OTHER WORDS FROM papacy

an·ti·pa·pa·cy, adjective

Words nearby papacy

Paoting, Paotow, pap, papa, papable, papacy, Papadopoulos, Papagayo, Papago, papain, papal
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to papacy

pontiff, pontifical, see, legate, otho, popery, vicegerent, vatican, nuncio, popedom, popish

Example sentences from the Web for papacy

British Dictionary definitions for papacy

papacy
/ (ˈpeɪpəsɪ) /

noun plural -cies

the office or term of office of a pope
the system of government in the Roman Catholic Church that has the pope as its head

Word Origin for papacy

C14: from Medieval Latin pāpātia, from pāpa pope 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for papacy

papacy

The office or position of the pope.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.