episcopacy

From episcopa(te) +‎ -cy and/or episcopa(l) +‎ -cy.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪˈpɪskəpəsi/

episcopacy (plural episcopacies)

1. The office of bishop and the governance of the Church by bishops.
   • 2009, John Sadler, Glencoe, Amberley 2009, p. 16:

     Further religious division occurred during the post-Restoration decades in the reign of Charles II, when strenuous and violent efforts were made by the Government to impose an episcopacy on the Scottish Church.

2. Bishops collectively; episcopate.

• bishopdom
• bishophood
• bishopric