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Webster 1913 Edition


Diocese

Di′o-cese

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Dioceses
(#)
.
[OE.
diocise
, OF.
diocise
, F.
diocése
, L.
dioecesis
, fr. Gr. [GREEK] housekeeping, administration, a province, a diocese, fr. [GREEK] to keep house, manage;
διά
through + [GREEK] to manage a household, [GREEK] a house. See
Economy
.]
(Eccl.)
The circuit or extent of a bishop’s jurisdiction; the district in which a bishop exercises his ecclesiastical authority.
[Frequently, but improperly, spelt
diocess
.]

Webster 1828 Edition


Diocese

DIOCESE

,
Noun.
[Gr., administration, a province or jurisdiction; residence; to dwell; a house. Diocese is a very erroneous orthography.] The circuit or extent of a bishops jurisdiction; an ecclesiastical division of a kingdom or state, subject to the authority of a bishop. In England there are two provinces or circuits of archbishops jurisdiction, Canterbury and York. The province of Canterbury contains twenty-one dioceses, and that of York three, besides the isle of Man. Every diocese is divided into archdeaconries, of which there are sixty; and each archdeaconry, into rural deaneries; and every deanery, into parishes. A diocese was originally a division of the Roman empire for the purpose of civil government, a prefecture. But the term is now exclusively appropriated to ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

Definition 2024


diocese

diocese

See also: diocèse

English

Alternative forms

Noun

diocese (plural dioceses)

  1. Administrative division of the later Roman Empire, starting with the tetrarchy.
  2. (religion) Region administered by a bishop.

Translations

Related terms

See also


Portuguese

Noun

diocese f (plural dioceses)

  1. (religion) diocese (region administered by a bishop)

Synonyms