popeshipn.
/ˈpəʊpʃɪp/, U.S. /ˈpoʊpˌʃɪp/ 1. The office or position of Pope, the papacy; a period of office as a pope, a pontificate; popehood.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > pope > [noun] > office of
keyOE
popedomlOE
apostailec1380
poperichea1387
thronec1390
papacya1393
papatea1393
see?a1400
popeheadc1410
popehoodc1410
pontificate?a1425
popeshipc1450
papality1483
pontificationa1500
pontificacy?1530
power of the keys1536
Apostolic seat1560
Catholic Seat1570
papalty1577
popedomship1588
oecumenacy1649
vice-godhead1659
chairship1660
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 402 (MED) Pope Iohn..made hym swere þat he sulde nevur..desyre nor take þe papeshup on hand. Neuer-þe-les after-ward..he tuke þe popeshup agayn on hand.
1549 J. Ponet tr. B. Ochino Tragoedie Unjuste Usurped Primacie sig. F4 And I meruayle wonderfully, that they will robbe the Popeshipe so much of so great a dignitie, and so to leaue him a bare man.
1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements ii. xviii. 306 So he passed the blessed time of his holy popeship with this vertuous dame.
1640 E. Dering Coll. Speeches on Relig. 23 Nov. (1642) iii. 8 Hee pleads Popeship under the name of a Patriarch.
1670 D. Lloyd State-worthies (ed. 2) 47 His strong Arguments for the Popeship in Star-chamber, brought him to him against his modest inclination, as much as against Wolsey's interest.
1688 H. Care Hist. Popery I. iii. i. 325 For in the fifth Year of his Popeship, going to say Mass in a certain Church of Rome..he perceived his fatal Hour to approach.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes iv. 217 Popeship, spiritual Fatherhood of God's Church, is that a vain semblance, of cloth and parchment?
1919 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-lore 32 464 Alexander Borgia, by the usual exchange, obtains from the Devil the Popeship.
1998 Portland (Maine) Press Herald (Nexis) 16 Aug. 7 e Brent Askari goofs it up beautifully as a Polish cardinal, the ‘he-man’ who wants the popeship for himself.
2. With possessive adjective: a title of mock respect given to a pope. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > pope > [noun]
popeeOE
apostoilec1275
vicary1303
vicar1340
bridge maker1341
Antichristc1370
vicar generalc1386
Holy Fatherc1400
servant of the servants of Godc1405
His Holy Fatherhood?a1425
universal bishopc1475
holiness1502
harlot1535
papa1555
Apostolic seat1560
vicegerent1572
man of Rome1581
pontiff1583
bullman1588
apostolicship1599
Pontifex Maximus1610
infallibleship1613
sanctity1633
popeship1641
decretaliarch1656
blessedness1670
Holy seata1674
infallibilityship1679
pontifexa1680
holyshipc1680
unholiness1682
His Infallibility1834
Pape1927
1641 E. Dering Foure Speeches iii. 10 This Cannon Law is of more use unto his Popeship..then both the other.
1675 H. Croft Naked Truth 63 Some of these were endowed with Archiepiscopal Jurisdiction in their Precincts, wherein they acted whatever they pleased, without controul of any but their Popeships.
?1706 E. Hickeringill Priest-craft: 2nd Pt. i. 11 And who dare..question what his Popeship would be at?
a1780 J. MacGowan Dial. Devils (1860) 138 As for their reverences in England, though they will deny no honor to his popeship, which really is his due, they will submit to none as the leading priest but his Grace of Canterbury.
1826 W. E. Andrews Crit. & Hist. Rev. Fox's Bk. Martyrs II. 187 What necessity could there be for all this attention on the part of his royal popeship?
2004 Sunday Independent (Ireland) (Nexis) 20 June Others among Niehans' patients were..Pope Pius XII... Plainly his Popeship was in no great hurry to enjoy the not inconsiderable perks of the next world.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1450