Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having a head bishop who is not responsible to any higher-ranking ecclesiastical authority. Used of churches in the Eastern Orthodox communion.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having a head or chief of its own; independent of jurisdiction: applied to a church.
- Acting as an independent head; having primary jurisdiction: as, an autocephalous bishop or metropolitan.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Eccl. Hist.) Having its own head; independent of episcopal or patriarchal jurisdiction, as certain Greek churches.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Christianity, of a church or bishop Self-governing or
autonomous :independent of otherepiscopal jurisdiction .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The office is found not only in all Greek Churches subject to Constantinople, but also in the Russian, Bulgarian, and other so-called autocephalous
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 1: Aachen-Assize 1840-1916 1913
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These independent churches are called autocephalous and several smaller churches are autonomous and under the authority of autocephalous bodies.
Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en] 2008
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These independent churches are called autocephalous and several smaller churches are autonomous and under the authority of autocephalous bodies. negative theology to experience God, whereas Westerners focused on Oriental Orthodox
Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en] 2008
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"autocephalous" metropolitans had no suffragan bishops, and depended directly on the patriarch.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI 1840-1916 1913
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"autocephalous" archdiocese, finally a metropolitan see; the dates of these changes are uncertain.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 13: Revelation-Stock 1840-1916 1913
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There are several Orthodox autocephalous churches in the world, most of them national.
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Of course, if the autocephalous church — even just one religious community — was registered, it would start mushrooming, Antonyuk said.
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Sava, fearful of the Roman influence, visited Nicaea and induced the Greek patriarch to recognize him as archbishop of all Serbia and as head of an autocephalous (independent) church.
f. Serbia 2001
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Bulgaria was then incorporated in the empire and the autocephalous church of Ochrid became the prey of the patriarchal hierarchy.
1040 2001
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The Bulgarians finally submitted (1018), but were left an autocephalous church at Ochrid.
976 2001
reesetee commented on the word autocephalous
I was a bit suprised to learn that this isn't a medical/scientific term. From RH Unabridged:
1. (of a church) having its own head or chief bishop, though in communion with other Orthodox churches.
2. (of a bishop) subordinate to no superior authority; self-governing.
July 23, 2007