abbacy

American  

[ab-uh-see] / ˈæb ə si /

noun

plural

abbacies

1. the rank, rights, privileges, or jurisdiction of an abbot.

2. the term of office of an abbot.

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abbacy British  

/ ˈæbəsɪ /

noun

1. the office, term of office, or jurisdiction of an abbot or abbess

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Etymology

Origin of abbacy

1400–50; late Middle English abbacie, abbat ( h ) ie < Late Latin abbātia ( abbey ), equivalent to abbāt- ( abbot ) + -ia -ia

Example Sentences

Scrabble annoys me; I can’t trust a game in which a well-played za scores more points than, well, abbacy.

From Slate • Feb. 19, 2020

There, at the age of twenty-seven, he became a monk; three years later, when Lanfranc was promoted to the abbacy of Caen, he was elected prior.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various

In the twenty-third year of his abbacy, Abbot Hugh bethought him that he would go to St. Thomas for the purpose of performing his devotions.

From The Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond: A Picture of Monastic Life in the Days of Abbot Samson by Brakelond, Jocelin de

The charters should be surrendered till the popular claimant of the abbacy should confirm them.

From Stray Studies from England and Italy by Greene, John Richard

The name of Mochaoi's abbacy, n' Aondruim, was in time anglicised to Antrim.

From The Divine Adventure Volume IV by Macleod, Fiona