sub-provincialn.
/ˈsʌbprəˌvɪnʃl/, /ˌsʌbprəˈvɪnʃl/, U.S. /ˈˌsəbprəˈˌvɪn(t)ʃ(ə)l/, /ˈˌsəbproʊˈˌvɪn(t)ʃ(ə)l/ Christian Church (historical in later use).
The assistant head of an ecclesiastical province; a junior provincial (provincial n. 1a).
ΚΠ
a1654 A. Ross Πανσεβεια (1655) xi. 355 Provincials rule is..to alter or adde nothing in the rules and customes of the Province, without the consent of the General; in his absence or sicknesse, he may name (if the General do not) a Subprovincial.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. iv. 181/2 The Sub-Provincial, is to act the same things..as the Provincial.
1853 E. W. Grinfield Jesuits ix. 125 He..was first sub-provincial and afterwards provincial, of the English Jesuits.
2010 Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press (Nexis) 21 Mar. b7 Soon afterward he was visited by a subprovincial of the Jesuit order.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1654