Definition of "eparchy" [ep•arch•y]

• A diocese of an Eastern Orthodox Church. (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.

• "• On average, diocesan ordinands lived in the diocese or eparchy for which they will be ordained for 17 years before entering the seminary."
• "Along with his religious and pastoral duties, he managed to increase the prestige of the Orthodox Church in the United States, working within the framework of its distinguished mission as an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate."
• "«833 The phrase "particular Church," which is first of all the diocese or eparchy, refers to a community of the Christian faithful in communion of faith and sacraments with their bishop ordained in apostolic succession."