impropriation

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   English ecclesiastical law: the transfer of a church benefice or its tithes into the hands of a layperson or secular corporation

   The impropriation of the rectory diverted its tithe income to a lay landowner.

2. 2
   noun

   a benefice, tithe, or other church revenue held by a layperson or secular body

   The bishop's income included several impropriations attached to distant parishes.

Formed from impropriate + -ion. Impropriate comes from Medieval Latin impropriare, 'to make one's own,' based on Latin in- and proprius, 'one's own.' In English the noun became a specialized term for church property or income made the property of a lay owner.

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