What is "eparchy"

Eparchy \Ep"arch*y\, n. [Gr. ? the post or office of an ?.] A province, prefecture, or territory, under the jurisdiction of an eparch or governor; esp., in modern Greece, one of the larger subdivisions of a monarchy or province of the kingdom; in Russia, a diocese or archdiocese.

n. 1 one of the districts of the Roman Empire at the third echelon 2 one of the administrative sub-provincial units of post-Ottoman independent Greece 3 in pre-schism Christian Church, name for a province under the supervision of the metropolitan 4 in Eastern Christendom, diocese of a bishop

1. n. a province in ancient Greece

2. a diocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church [syn: exarchate]

Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia, which can be loosely translated as the rule or jurisdiction over something, such as a province, prefecture, or territory. It has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian churches.

In secular use, the word eparchy denotes an administrative district in the Roman / Byzantine Empire, or in modern Greece or Cyprus.

In ecclesiastical use, an eparchy is a territorial diocese governed by a bishop of one of the Eastern churches, who holds the title of eparch. It is part of a metropolis. Each eparchy is divided into parishes in the same manner as a diocese of western Christendom. In the Catholic Church, an archieparchy equivalent to an archdiocese of the Roman Rite and its bishop is an archieparch, equivalent to an archbishop of the Roman Rite.