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Glite Dictionary
⛪ Of top church leader 🐒 Of monkeys or apes
primatial

primatial

1 9.9
Relating to the highest bishop in some Christian churches
  • adjective
  • /ˈpraɪmeɪʃəl/
  • Formal
: primacial
  • In the debate about church governance, the primatial role of the pope was a key focus.

Examples

  • The primatial seat of the archbishop is regarded as the highest position within the diocese.

  • Seen as a persistent threat to its primatial position and privileges, the so-called anti-Roman canons of the Trullan Council were rejected by the "First See."

    Academic text (2010)

  • The archbishop held a ceremony to celebrate his primatial authority over the church.

Surface Forms

primatial positive

Morphology

primatial = primate (semi-transparent) = primate + ial

The adjective is regularly formed from 'primate' with '-ial', but the ecclesiastical sense is specialized and unlikely to be obvious to many learners.

Etymology

Primatial comes from primate, which comes from Latin primus meaning 'first'. A helpful image is to think of a primate as the chief bishop, so primatial means 'about the highest church leader'.