prioracy

English

Etymology

From prior +‎ -acy. First use appears c. 1895. See cite below.

Noun

prioracy (uncountable)

1. (dated, obsolete) The office of a prior.
   • 1895, E. Margaret Thompson, A History of the Somerset Carthusians, page 71:

     St. Hugh's immediate successor in the prioracy was Bovo, who at the Chartreuse had had a prophetic vision of him as a bishop.

   • 1906, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, Record Series - Volume 37, page 130:

     Whenever a prior of that place should die, another prior, who should be appointed in succession from Marmoutier (de majori Monasteri) by the abbot of that place to the dignity of that prioracy, should come and dwell there ...

   • 1984, Charles Julian Bishko, Spanish and Portuguese Monastic History, 600-1300, page 349:

     ... livestock and crop output between the beginning and end of Semeno's prioracy.

   • 2023, Jill Mann, Nigel of Longchamp, Speculum Stultorum, page lvi:

     ... that he may be able to get himself a prioracy or abbacy, where he can first introduce a numerous retinue of his relatives.