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

Bishop Thornton, suffragan of Dover, was an indefatigable persecutor of the true church.

From Project Gutenberg

There is an archbishop at Buenos Aires and eight suffragan bishops, including one for Paraguay.

From Project Gutenberg

Desirous of counterbalancing these preachings, the Bishop of Augsburg ordered his suffragan and his chaplain to ascend the pulpit.

From Project Gutenberg

The bishops are aided in their work by 36 suffragan and assistant bishops in England and Wales.

From Project Gutenberg

He was represented in the camp by his suffragan, the bishop of the Orkneys.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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