Skip to main content
Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion

3 7.4
A worldwide group of national churches connected to the Church of England with the Archbishop of Canterbury as symbolic leader
  • proper noun
translation icon : Comunión Anglicana
  • The Anglican Communion operates a network of churches that are fully linked to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • the worldwide Anglican Communion
  • provinces of the Anglican Communion
  • the 77 million-strong Anglican Communion

Examples

  • Throughout the Anglican Communion, seven provinces have approved or subscribed to the Anglican Covenant.

    Blog text (9)
  • Leaders from the Anglican Communion gathered to discuss their shared beliefs and future direction.

  • "Anglican World has always been an important vehicle for the Anglican Communion to hear from its members," he said.

    Blog text (20)
  • "We heard on the committee a resounding support for maintaining relationships in the Anglican Communion," she said.

    Blog text (9)
  • Both are now part of the worldwide Anglican Communion and continue in a covenanted relationship with The Episcopal Church.

    Blog text (1)
  • Continuing Indaba will be the lifeblood and breath of the Anglican Communion.

    Blog text (9)
  • Connecticut Bishop Ian Douglas addresses the House of Bishops on July 10 regarding two resolutions concerning Anglican Communion relationships and the Anglican Covenant.

    Blog text (9)
  • The House of Bishops concurred with the deputies on July 10 to affirm their commitment to building relationships across the Anglican Communion, especially through the Continuing Indaba program, and to decline to take a position on the Anglican Covenant.

    Blog text (9)
  • Rowan Williams has spoken about the 'state of the Communion' in the official magazine of the Anglican Communion, relaunched at the recent Anglican Consultative Council meeting in New Zealand.

    Blog text (20)
  • The Anglican Communion includes many churches across the globe that follow the traditions of the Church of England.

Surface Forms

Morphology

Anglican + communion

The meaning 'the worldwide association of Anglican churches' is directly derivable from 'Anglican' (pertaining to Anglicanism) + 'communion' (an organized fellowship/association of churches). This compound follows a straightforward noun-noun naming pattern that is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Anglican Communion comes from Anglican, meaning the Church of England, and Communion, meaning a group that shares the same faith and worship. Think of many local churches around the world joined by the same prayers and a symbolic leader in Canterbury, so the name means 'the worldwide group of churches tied together'.