Definition of "patriarchate" [pa•tri•ar•chate]

• The territory, rule, or rank of a patriarch. (noun)
• See patriarchy. (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.

• "For to deny that the patriarchate is a legal entity with certain rights, an entity that can work with the Turkish government within the framework of the law, means that all issues between the patriarchate and the state become po-litical issues, subject to political pressures and counterpressures -- especially problematic, since less than one tenth of 1 per-cent of the Turkish population is Orthodox."
• "The whole southwest of Jerusalem around their patriarchate is the "Armenian quarter"."
• "Near the patriarchate is the large Orthodox monastery (St. Constantine) with a printing press and hospice for pilgrims."