pontifical

Etymology

Latin pontificalis.

Adjective

pontifical (comparative more pontifical, superlative most pontifical)

1. Of or pertaining to a pontiff.
   1. Of or pertaining to a bishop; episcopal.
   2. Of or pertaining to a pope; papal.
2. Pompous, dignified or dogmatic.
3. Of or pertaining to the pontifices of Ancient Rome.
4. Of or relating to the building of bridges.
   • Milton

     Now had they brought the work by wondrous art / Pontifical, a ridge of pendent rock / Over the vexed abyss.

Noun

pontifical (plural pontificals)

1. A book containing the offices, or formulas, used by a pontiff.
   • 1995, Richard A. Jackson, Ordines coronationis Franciae: texts and ordines for the coronation of Frankish and French kings and queens in the Middle Ages, page 30:

     Both ordines are related to an ordo in a pontifical in Reims, the Ordo of 1200 (Ordo XIX). The latter was to be consulted again and again, and its formulas were to have a marked effect upon the French ceremony; […]

   • 2001, Leon F. Strieder, The Promise of Obedience: A Ritual History, page 32:

     William Durandus, bishop of Mende in the south of France, compiled a pontifical in three books. William never intended his work to be a universal pontifical, but its clarity of arrangement and quality of substance, along with […]

Adjective

pontifical (feminine singular pontificale, masculine plural pontificaux, feminine plural pontificales)

1. pontifical

Further reading

• “pontifical” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Adjective

pontifical (plural pontificales)

1. pontifical