suffragan

[ suhf-ruh-guhn ]

adjective

1. assisting or auxiliary to, as applied to any bishop in relation to the archbishop or metropolitan who is his superior, or as applied to an assistant or subsidiary bishop who performs episcopal functions in a diocese but has no ordinary jurisdiction, as, in the Church of England, a bishop consecrated to assist the ordinary bishop of a see in part of his diocese.
2. (of a see or diocese) subordinate to an archiepiscopal or metropolitan see.

noun

1. a suffragan bishop.

suffragan

/ ˈsʌfrəɡən /

adjective

1. 1. (of any bishop of a diocese) subordinate to and assisting his superior archbishop or metropolitan
   2. (of any assistant bishop) having the duty of assisting the bishop of the diocese to which he is appointed but having no ordinary jurisdiction in that diocese

noun

1. a suffragan bishop

Derived Forms

• ˈsuffraganship, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of suffragan¹

1350–1400; Middle English suffragane < Medieval Latin suffrāgāneus voting, equivalent to suffrāg ( ium ) suffrage + -āneus, composite adj. suffix, equivalent to -ān ( us ) -an + -eus -eous

Word History and Origins

Origin of suffragan¹

C14: from Medieval Latin suffragāneus, from suffrāgium assistance, from Latin: suffrage

Example Sentences

In 2019, she became suffragan - or assistant - Bishop of Southampton in the Diocese of Winchester and ended up taking charge of the diocese after Bishop Tim Dakin stepped down in a row over the Channel Islands.

From BBC

And the bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Virginia, the Rt.

From Washington Post

One ally of the farmworkers’ organizing effort is Anne Hodges-Copple, bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, who noted that “Bible story after Bible story is about marginalized communities.”

From Washington Times

In September 1988, representatives of the Episcopal clergy and laity elected her bishop suffragan, or assisting bishop, in Massachusetts.

From Washington Post

Rev. Harris was suffragan bishop in Massachusetts for 13 years before retiring in 2002.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• administrator
• cleric
• director
• patriarch
• pontiff
• pope
• prelate
• priest