Definition of "decretal" []

• Roman Catholic Church A decree, especially a papal letter giving a decision on a point or question of canon law. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "When pontifical enactments take the form of responses they are called decretal epistles."
• "In the first section of the decretal is a list of the canonical books of the Bible, as in the"
• "This right of a married person to bonk on demand could take priority over other duties and was such serious business that, until a decretal from Pope Innocent III (1198-216), a man needed his wife's permission to go on a Crusade because without him home she might be led to commit adultery."