diocese

noun

di·​o·​cese ˈdī-ə-səs 

-ˌsēs,

-ˌsēz

plural dioceses ˈdī-ə-sə-səz 

-ˌsē-zəz,

 nonstandard  ˈdī-ə-ˌsēz

: the territorial jurisdiction of a bishop

diocesan

dī-ˈä-sə-sən 

 also  ˈdī-ə-ˌsē-sᵊn

adjective

Examples of diocese in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Inspired by the celebration in Carthage, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange created its own celebration in 2022 after the dedication of its Our Lady of La Vang Shrine, a project the diocese’s Vietnamese American community saw to fruition through years of effort. —Victoria Le, Orange County Register, 13 July 2024

More than half of that has come from Catholic dioceses in Florida and the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. —Max Greenwood, Miami Herald, 10 July 2024

The Catholic diocese of Linz said in a statement that the Virgin Mary’s head was sawed off early Monday morning in an act of vandalism. —Kelsey Ables, Washington Post, 3 July 2024

Advertisement The case has been closely followed not just because of the opioid settlement but also because of the use of bankruptcy laws to settle other mass lawsuits involving the Boy Scouts of America and some Catholic dioceses. —David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English diocise, dyoces, borrowed from Anglo-French diocise, dyocés, borrowed from Late Latin diocēsis, dioecēsis "administrative district, province, group of provinces (in the later Roman Empire), jurisdiction of a bishop" (Latin, "administrative district"), borrowed from Late Greek dioíkēsis "administration, control, ordering, civil or ecclesiastical group of provinces, jurisdiction of a bishop," going back to Greek, "management, administration," from dioikē-, variant stem of dioikéō, dioikeîn "to control, manage, look after" (from di- di- + oikeîn "to live, have one's home, order, govern," derivative of oîkos "house, home") + -sis -sis — more at vicinity

Note: In early Modern English diocise, passed on from Middle English, competed unsuccessfully with the Latin/French-influenced forms diocess and diocese. The variant diocess was predominant in the eighteenth century and is the only form entered in Samuel Johnson's dictionary (1755). The situation had changed, at least in the U.S., by the early nineteenth century: Noah Webster, in his American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), enters only diocese, and regards diocess as "a very erroneous orthography."

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

diocese

noun

di·​o·​cese ˈdī-ə-səs 

-ˌsēz,

-ˌsēs

plural dioceses ˈdī-ə-ˌsēz 

-ˌsē-zēz,

-sə-səz

: the district over which a bishop has authority