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episcopacy|ɪˈpɪskəpəsɪ|
[f. late L. episcopātus the office or dignity of a bishop. See episcopal and -acy.]
†1. Oversight; ecclesiastical authority. Obs.
1659Gauden Tears Ch. Eng. 23 First three, afterward five Patriarchs had the general Episcopacy..over all the Christian World.
2. Government of the church by bishops; the system of church government which comprises three distinct orders, bishops, presbyters or priests, and deacons.
1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 35/2 There was little more than the name of episcopacy preserved in that church. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 248 He was never a cordial friend to Episcopacy, but rather a patron of the Non-conformists. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 80 Is the house of lords to be voted useless? Is episcopacy to be abolished? 1860Forster Gr. Remonstr. 87 In the year 1570, the institution of episcopacy in the Protestant church was openly assailed by the Lady Margaret's professor of divinity at Cambridge.
3. The position or office of bishop. rare.
1685A. Lovell tr. Simon's Crit. Hist. Relig. 23 They observe not exactly the Age that is required for Priesthood and Episcopacy. 1869Lecky Europ. Mor. (ed. 2) 86 Priests who attained the episcopacy.
4. The period during which a bishop holds his office; = episcopate. Now rare.
1660Jer. Taylor Duct. Dubit. ii. iii. §11 By their differing presidencies or episcopacies. 1816C. Sharp Hist. Hartlepool 20 During the episcopacy of Bishop Poor. 1844Lingard Hist. Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) II. xi. 171 Aldhelm died..in the fifth year of his episcopacy.
5. concr. The body of bishops in the aggregate.
1757Burke Abridgm. Eng. Hist. Wks. X. 38 Long may we enjoy our Church under a learned and edifying episcopacy. 1885Manch. Exam. 10 Jan. 5/2 A usurping priesthood and an aggressive episcopacy. 1889Standard 14 Sept. 5/3 The Episcopacy are still active in the preliminaries of the Electoral campaign. |