Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dicastery

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: di-cas-t-ery
IPA

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A ministry or department of the Roman Curia of the Holy See, whether administrative or ecclesiastical.

noun

A judicial body of the ancient Athenian state, made up of dicasts.

Example Sentences

"The dicastery will continue to oversee the appointment of bishops in the mission territories. … There is no longer a distinction between congregations and pontifical councils because all the Vatican’s main departments are now defined as dicasteries."
"The Argentine pontiff summoned him to Rome in 2023 to head the powerful dicastery for bishop appointments—a job that allowed him to build networks across the Catholic leadership."
"The better cause has conquered; and there is at least this advantage to the Athenian legal system, there will be no appeal nor tedious technicalities before a "higher court." The verdict of the dicastery is final."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δικαστήριον (dikastḗrion, “court, tribunal”), from δίκη (díkē, “right, custom, judgement”).

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: δικαστήριον

Inflected Forms

dicasteries (plural)

Derived Forms

dicasterial

Questions

What does dicastery mean?: A ministry or department of the Roman Curia of the Holy See, whether administrative or ecclesiastical.
Where does dicastery come from?: It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce dicastery

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