papacy

Circa 14th century, from Middle English papacie, papassie, from Medieval Latin pāpātia, from Latin pāpa (“pope”) + -tia (“office, rank”) (English -cy).

• enPR: pāʹ-pə-sē, IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪ.pə.si/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -eɪpəsi

papacy (countable and uncountable, plural papacies)

1. The office of a pope.

   Coordinate term: episcopacy

   1. (usually) The office of the pope of Rome, who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

      The Vatican defends the primacy of the papacy.

2. The period of a particular pope's reign.

   The papacy of John Paul II ended in 2005, after the pope's long battle with illness ended.

3. (often derogatory) Roman Catholicism generally: synonym of popery.

• antipapacy
• caesaropapacy

• (the state of being a father or a father figure): abbacy, fatherness, paternity