Erchebischopriche

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The office, rank or province governed by an archbishop, an archaic Middle English form of archbishopric
2. The jurisdiction or see over which a chief bishop presides, as known in older English writing
3. An archaic spelling for the district, dignity or territory under the authority of an archbishop

Etymology: The ending of this word is older than the church office it names. Its final element comes from Old English "rīce," meaning realm or dominion, the same root as "rich" in its old sense of ruling power and as German "Reich." An archbishopric was therefore, in origin, the realm of a chief bishop, a jurisdiction rather than a title. The first part is Old English "ǣrce-," a prefix meaning chief or principal, borrowed from Greek "archi-" through Latin. It joins "bishop," which came into English from Old English "biscop," a borrowing of Latin "episcopus," from Greek "episkopos," meaning overseer. Middle English spellings like "erchebischopriche" show the prefix and the ending still being sorted out, and the modern "archbishopric" settled into place later.