English

edit

Etymology

edit

Circa 14th century, from Middle English papacie, papassie, from Medieval Latin pāpātia, from Latin pāpa (pope) + -tia (office, rank) (English -cy).

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

papacy (countable and uncountable, plural papacies)

  1. The office of the pope.
    The papacy represents the head of the Catholic Church.
  2. The period of a particular pope's reign.
    The papacy of John Paul II ended in 2005, after the pope's long battle with illness ended.
  3. Roman Catholicism generally.

Derived terms

edit
edit

Translations

edit

See also

edit