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

Toscano expects the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to eventually implement the text across their dioceses and parishes, and for pastors to start teaching based on its tenets. —Andrew R. Chow, Time, 27 May 2026

Parishoners there had petitioned the diocese for a Spanish-language Mass, and Doub — who had previously ministered in Mexico and later left the priesthood — was appointed to do that at Most Holy Trinity. —Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 23 May 2026

As many as 40,000 people climb the mountain on the feast day of Christ the King each fall, according to the diocese. —Trevor Hughes, USA Today, 13 May 2026

While each diocese has only one cathedral, a city may have several if multiple traditions with bishops are present; London, for example, has both the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral and the Church of England’s Saint Paul’s Cathedral. —Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 May 2026

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

Rhymes for diocese

• agrees
• appease
• bougies
• burmese
• chemise
• chickpeas
• chinese
• cowpeas
• curies
• decrees
• degrees
• disease

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