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View synonyms for pontificate

pontificate

[ noun pon-tif-i-kit, -keyt; verb pon-tif-i-keyt ]

noun

  1. the office or term of office of a pontiff.


verb (used without object)

, pon·tif·i·cat·ed, pon·tif·i·cat·ing.
  1. to perform the office or duties of a pontiff.
  2. to speak in a pompous or dogmatic manner:

    Did he pontificate about the responsibilities of a good citizen?

  3. to serve as a bishop, especially in a Pontifical Mass.

pontificate

verb

  1. to speak or behave in a pompous or dogmatic manner Also (less commonly)pontifyˈpɒntɪˌfaɪ
  2. to serve or officiate as a pontiff, esp in celebrating a Pontifical Mass
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. the office or term of office of a pontiff, now usually the pope
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • pon·tif·i·ca·tion [pon-tif-i-, key, -sh, uh, n], noun
  • pon·tif·i·ca·tor noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of pontificate1

First recorded in 1400–50. The noun is from Latin pontificātus, derivative of pontific- (stem of pontifex ) + -ātus noun suffix denoting office or function; pontifex, -ate 3. The verb is from Medieval Latin pontificātus, past participle of pontificāre “to be an ecclesiastic”; -ate 1
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Example Sentences

In the wake of Francis’s surgery, Alberto Melloni, a church historian, argued that this pontificate has entered a concluding chapter, where he will have to make decisions about the final things he might want to prioritize.

But of course, there is the now fading memory of the election that followed the long pontificate of Pius XII.

Benedict may well want to cut short the time available for the cardinals to politick, posture, and pontificate, as it were.

The deficit hawks pontificate on camera while in the wings the tradesmen of the Congress fill districts with holiday cheer.

The pope of Rome sent him a full set of all the medals struck during his pontificate.

Cossa kept his word never to appeal against the sentence which stripped him of the pontificate.

His cosmography, like all of them, began with the creation and came down to the pontificate of Martin V who was then Pope.

Luther attacked not the abuses of the Roman pontificate, but the pontificate itself.

Ferdinando de Medici, then a cardinal, had just failed in his candidacy for the pontificate (outwitted by that fox Montalto).

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