in commendam
- noun
- Archaic
:
beneficio en commendam
- The bishop held the parish in commendam until a new priest was appointed.
Examples
-
He received the revenues from the church in commendam for several months.
-
During the transition, the abbey was managed in commendam by a trusted official.
-
Father John is in commendam.
-
The bishop placed him in commendam.
-
The bishop held the parish in commendam until a new priest was appointed.
-
During the transition, the abbey was managed in commendam by a trusted official.
-
He received the revenues from the church in commendam for several months.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A church job that gives land and money to support the person in it
A church job that gives money to the person who has it
How Temporary
Surface Forms
Morphology
in + commendam
This is a Latin ecclesiastical/legal term whose key lexical element 'commendam' is not a familiar English word and therefore a B1 learner knowing only 'in' cannot infer the specialized meaning 'a benefice temporarily entrusted'. The expression is language-specific and technical rather than compositionally built from common English constituents, so its meaning is not derivable from the parts.
Etymology
In commendam originally named the church office or lands given 'in trust' to a person who held them and received their income until a permanent leader arrived. The image is of a place put into someone's hands for a time. So in commendam today can mean the benefice or office held temporarily.