autocephaly
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˌɔːtəˈsɛfəli/
- Specialized
- The university's autocephaly allowed it to set its own academic policies.
Examples
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After years of negotiation, the region achieved autocephaly from the central government.
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The church declared its autocephaly and began appointing its own leaders.
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The church achieved autocephaly in 2019.
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Many Orthodox churches seek autocephaly to govern independently.
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The Orthodox Church in Ukraine was granted autocephaly, allowing it to govern independently from Moscow.
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After years of negotiations, the regional synod finally declared autocephaly for the church, enabling it to choose its own leadership.
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The idea of autocephaly gained traction among local congregations, who wanted more control over their religious practices.
Antonyms
How Self-Governing
Surface Forms
Morphology
autocephaly = autocephalous (semi-transparent) = auto + cephal + y
The meaning is fairly clear from auto- ('self') plus cephal- ('head'), but the ecclesiastical sense is specialized and metaphorical.
Etymology
Autocephaly comes from the Greek parts auto- meaning 'self', as in automobile, and -cephaly meaning 'head' or 'leader'. So autocephaly literally means 'self-headed', which helps you remember that a church or organization with autocephaly can run itself and choose its own leader.