Definition of "episcopacy"

episcopacy

/ɪˈpɪskəpəsi/

noun
plural episcopacies
1. The office of bishop and the governance of a church (a religious denomination) by bishops.
  Quotations
  Further religious division occurred during the post-Restoration decades in the reign of Charles II, when strenuous and violent efforts were made by the Government to impose an episcopacy on the Scottish Church.
  2009, John Sadler, Glencoe, Amberley, published 2009, page 16
2. Bishops collectively: Synonym of episcopate.