Patriarchate
WordNet
noun
(1) A form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male line
(2) The jurisdiction of a patriarch
WiktionaryText
Noun
- 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.
- The ecclesial jurisdiction of such a patriarch.
- The Eucumenical Patriarch has jurisdiction over the whole of the Orthodox world.
- The office-space occupied by a patriarch and his staff.
- The Latin patriarchate in Jerusalem is, by modern standards, a very cramped space.