episcopal

[Fr. épiscopal, from Lat. epis copal is.] 1. Appertaining to a bishop; as, the episcopal dignity or jurisdiction; an episcopal palace. "A fourth part of the dioceses of France had bishops who were incapable of performing any episcopal function."- Macaulay : Hist . Eng ., ch. xiv. 2. Governed by bishops, or having bishops as its high ecclesiastical dignitaries; as, the Episcopal church or churches. ě-pis-co-pā-li-an, a. & s. [Lat. episcopal i ( s ); Eng., ., suff. -an.] †A. As adj.: The same as EPISCOPAL (q. v.) B. As substantive: Ecclesiology : 11. Gen .: A person who considers that episcopacy is the best, if not even the one divinely appointed government in the Christian church, and person ally belongs to a church which has as its high ecclesiastical officers, bishops. In this sense the members of the Roman, Greek, and English churches are all Episcopalians. 2. Spec.: A Protestant holding episcopacy as a religious tenet, and personally submitting or prepared to submit to its discipline. The term Episcopalians is intended to distinguish Protestants believing in episcopacy from those believing in the