episcopal

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin episcopālis,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} perhaps through Middle French épiscopal, from which the OED and Barnhart derive it;^[8][9] Hoad, the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English allow either source.^[10][11][12] The Latin adjective is formed from episcopus (“bishop”) with the suffix -ālis.^[3][11] Episcopus is from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “watcher, overseer”),^[12][4] from ἐπί (epí, “over”) and σκοπός (skopós, “one who watches”), from Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”);^[4] through Old English it is also the source of bishop.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to bishops: about 1460, in the Oseney Register ("customs Episcopals and Archidiaconals");^[5][9] the OED's first record is from the Rolls of Parliament of 1485–6.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From 1651, in Baxter, it meant relating to episcopacy, government of the church by bishops, and it was formerly also said of people who supported that system.^[8] From 1752, in Hume's Essays, it described a church organized on that principle,^[8][9][4] and with a capital E it became the usual name of the Anglican church in Scotland and the United States.^[8][4][9] Johnson (1755) gave the senses "belonging to a bishop" and "vested in a bishop".^[13] As a noun, an adherent of episcopacy or a member of an Episcopal church, it is recorded from 1709, in Swift, to 1823,^[8] and Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1752.^[3] The derivative episcopalian is a noun from 1738 and an adjective from 1768.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1460 – of or relating to bishops.^[5][9]
• 1485–86 – the OED's first record.^[8]
• 1651 – relating to episcopacy.^[8]
• 1709 – noun, an adherent of episcopacy.^[8]
• 1738 – the noun Episcopalian.^[9]
• 1752 – of a church governed by bishops.^[8][9][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to, or suited to a bishop or bishops: the episcopal palace.^[3][7][8]
2. Governed by bishops; relating to or supporting episcopacy.^[3][7][8]
3. Episcopal: of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican church in the United States and Scotland.^[7][8][4]

Noun

1. A member of an Episcopal church; an episcopalian;^[3][8] Merriam-Webster notes that it is seldom used formally, and the OED records it from 1709 to 1823.^[3][8]

Word family

• episcopally
• nonepiscopal

Related words

• episcopacy
• episcopalian
• bishop
• episcopate
• scope

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.