Definition of "patriarchate" in English

noun

1. A patriarchal system or community.

2. (Christianity) The term of office of a Christian patriarch.

   • The patriarchate of Pope John Paul II as Patriarch of the West was more than 25 years.

3. The office or ecclesial jurisdiction of such a patriarch.

   • The Patriarchate of Constantinople has primacy over the whole of the Orthodox world.

4. The office-space occupied by a patriarch and his staff.

   • The Latin patriarchate in Jerusalem is, by modern standards, a very cramped space.