autocephalicadj.
/ˌɔːtə(ʊ)sᵻˈfalɪk/, /ˌɔːtə(ʊ)kɛˈfalɪk/, U.S. /ˌɔdoʊsəˈfælɪk/, /ˌɔdəsəˈfælɪk/, /ˌɑdoʊsəˈfælɪk/, /ˌɑdəsəˈfælɪk/ Chiefly Christian Church.
= autocephalous adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > metropolitan > [adjective] > independent of
autocephalous1754
autocephalic1855
1855 Brown's Q. Rev. Oct. 6 Peter the Great, in order thus to habituate the clergy to the idea that he was not autocephalic, caused them to acknowledge the Patriarch of Constantinople as spiritual head of the orthodox Church.
1908 Amer. Polit. Sci. Rev. 2 310 It [sc. the Greek Orthodox community] consists of fifteen autocephalic bodies.
1948 D. Diringer Alphabet 320 The Armenian Church became independent and autocephalic.
1987 N.Y. Times 6 Sept. iv. 14/4 A regime of autocephalic communities with their own clerical courts and canon laws.
2001 Imago Mundi 53 149/1 The autocephalic Armenian Church was the partner of the state and..the guardian of Armenian life and culture.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adj.1855