Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The district or churches under the jurisdiction of a bishop; a bishopric.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A district or division of a country; a province: now obsolete except when used with reference to Norway, an episcopal diocese (stift) of which, as a geographical division of the country, is sometimes regarded as a province, though it has no provincial civil administration.
- n. Under the Roman empire after Diocletian and Constantine, a subdivision of a prefecture, comprising a number of provinces; hence, a corresponding extent of territory as an ecclesiastical division, including a number of provinces or eparchies, each province again containing a number of parœciæ, which themselves finally came to be called dioceses in the following (modern) sense.
- n. The district, with its population, falling under the pastoral care of a bishop.
Wiktionary
- n. Administrative division of the later Roman Empire, starting with the Tetrarchy.
- n. religion Region administered by a bishop.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Eccl.) The circuit or extent of a bishop's jurisdiction; the district in which a bishop exercises his ecclesiastical authority.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the territorial jurisdiction of a bishop
Etymologies
- From Latin dioecēsis ("district under a governor"), from Ancient Greek διοίκησις (dioikēsis, "internal administration") (Wiktionary)
- Middle English diocise, from Old French, from Late Latin diocēsis, from Latin dioecēsis, jurisdiction, from Greek dioikēsis, administration, from dioikein, to keep house, administer : dia-, intensive pref.; see dia- + oikein, to inhabit (from oikos, house. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Originally the term diocese (Gr. dioikesis) signified management of a household, thence administration or government in general.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 5: Diocese-Fathers of Mercy
“And the diocese is getting a new boss bishop in January!”
“It wasn't immediately known what Benson's position at the diocese is now.”
The Huffington Post: San Diego Diocese Sex Abuse Case: Lawyers Release 10,000 Unsealed Documents
“Donna Daly, a spokeswoman for the Diocese of San Diego, did not immediately return a call on Sunday and no one answered at the main diocese number.”
The Huffington Post: San Diego Diocese Sex Abuse Case: Lawyers Release 10,000 Unsealed Documents
“The Virginia diocese is still in court trying to get the church property back.”
“In some ways, I appreciate the fact the diocese is still building churches where churches are needed to be built.”
Catholic Cleveland: Historic Church Saved, But Others Still in Danger
“Meanwhile, the diocese is breaking ground on a $3 million, 450-seat church in the exurb of Grafton, Our Lady Queen of Peace (below), done in a dismal retro style.”
Catholic Cleveland: Historic Church Saved, But Others Still in Danger
“For a little over a year, five Canadian and six African dioceses have engaged in diocese-to-diocese theological dialogue on matters relating to human sexuality and to mission.”
The Anglican Church of Canada immersed in treacly conversation « Anglican Samizdat
“Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, Sant'Egidio's sort of godfather in the Church, savors Saint Valentine's legacy, because his diocese is in the place where the Saint is said to have lived.”
“I called the diocese spokeswoman, Suzanne Gill, on her cell.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘diocese’.
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*e?e
Words whose last and third-to-last letters are both "e".
here, eke, were, complete, mete, replete, adhere, where, mere, sphere, austere, aesthete and 99 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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religion
who is this god person, anyway? (--Douglas Adams)
sachristy, vestry, diocese, papal, cardinal, pope, polygamy, seven, father, chaplain, vestments, blessing and 227 more...
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remnants of a catholic childhood
extreme unction, viaticum, maundy thursday, spy wednesday, good friday, papabile, monstrance, septuagesima, monsignor, thurible, chasuble, alb and 110 more...
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wreckingball's Words
reprehensible, problematize, crepuscular, deleterious, pestilent, strumpet, draggletail, interrobang, meretricious, systematize, schadenfreude, capricious and 443 more...
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Professional Scrabble Lexicon (TWL)
A myriad of game-changing words every Scrabble addict must have in his arsenal.
Keep in mind that these are all tried-and-true feasibly playable words selected for their handiness, i.e...paragon, pignora, ganef, suttee, origan, ohia, aioli, abasement, lehr, mho, tallow, harelike and 848 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (D)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
desert rose, dabble, daffodil, dagger, dairymaid, daisy, damask, damson, dappled, dart, dashed, dauphin and 111 more...
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amazing grace
hymn, nave, narthex, chapel, novice, asperges, altar, annunciation, liturgical, litany, nicene creed, cloister and 209 more...
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Words of the Day
glabella, chirotony, nook-shotten, crapehanger, filemot, swirlie, egosurf, lexiphanicism, Ruritanian, stichometry, chrononaut, faldstool and 2253 more...
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botello360's list
ruminate, steel, bifurcation, arrivederci, portage, tactile, ruminant, rift, anecdotage, diacritic, cud, hull and 399 more...
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GRE uncommon
patronage, expletive, exhort, exegesis, execrable, excommunicate, evince, escarpment, ersatz, ergo, epoxy, snare and 1202 more...
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He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter
words evocative of Christianity
frankincense, myrrh, messiah, crèche, pulpit, sacrament, eucharist, nephilim, censer, vespers, compline, sexton and 44 more...
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One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
I always liked the prayers and services more than the actual beliefs...
litany, penance, absolution, vesper, deacon, creche, novena, dogma, epiphany, transubstantiation, diocese, lent and 2 more...
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Sarilas's Words
chortle, serendipity, inept, retro, tenacious, penchant, mediocrity, claret, gust, pomp, circumstance, pageantry and 97 more...
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sed libera nos a malo
One of the last vestiges of my Catholic upbringing is my interest in and love for language that pertains to it.
psalm, breviary, ecclesiastical, absolve, stigmata, catechumen, hymn, chorister, plainsong, litany, benediction, cloistered and 59 more...
Tweets
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