bishopric

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bisshopriche, also bisshoprike,^[2] inherited from Old English bisceoprīce, also biscoprīce,^[3][4] formed from Old English bisceop (“bishop”) + rīce (“realm, province”).^[5][3][6][7] The OED analyses the word as bishop with the suffix -ric, which began as the second element of such compounds.^[5] The first element goes back to Late Latin episcopus, from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”),^[7][1] and the second to Proto-Germanic *rīkiją,^[1][7] from Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“to move in a straight line”).^[7][6] It is akin to the adjective rich.^[2][4] The OED compares Old Norse biskups-ríki.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The province of a bishop, a diocese: in the Old English translation of Bede, Mellitus féng to ðam bisceopríce, Mellitus succeeded to the bishopric.^[3][5] Dictionary.com dates the word before 900,^[4] and Merriam-Webster before the 12th century.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

The Old English word meant a territory: a gloss sets bisceopríce beside diocessis and parochia.^[3] From 1394, in Pierce Ploughman's Crede, it also meant the office of a bishop.^[5] From about 1384, in the Wycliffite Bible, until 1611 it could also mean any overseership or office, rendering Ancient Greek ἐπισκοπή (episkopḗ);^[5] it was used for high-priesthood in 1520, and for the seat or residence of a bishop in W. Lisle's 1623 translation of Ælfric.^[5] Gower has it only once.^[9] Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the World Book Dictionary also record a Mormon sense, a ward's administrative body of a bishop and his two counselors.^[2][10]

Timeline

• Old English – the province of a bishop, a diocese.^[5][3]
• c. 1384 – an overseership or office (obsolete by 1611).^[5]
• 1394 – the office or position of a bishop.^[5]
• 1520 – high-priesthood (obsolete).^[5]
• 1623 – the seat or residence of a bishop (obsolete).^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The area under a bishop's authority; a diocese or see: The town lay at the edge of the bishopric.^{[2][6][11][5]}
2. The office or rank of a bishop.^{[6][2][11][5]}
3. In the Mormon Church, a body made up of a ward's bishop and his two counselors.^[2][10]

Related words

• bishop
• -ric
• rich
• archbishopric
• episcopal

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ a b The World Book Dictionary (2015), Chicago: World Book
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins