Primate

In ecclesiastical law. An archbishop who has jurisdiction over one or several other metropolitans.

In Ecclesiastical Law. An archbishop who has jurisdiction over his province, or one of several metropolitans presiding over others. Exarch comes nearest to it in the Greek church. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the Primate of All England; the Archbishop of York is Primate of England.

In English law. A chief ecclesiastic; a prelate of supreme dignity and authority; an archbishop.

A title by which some of the archbishops in the English church are distinguished. Primate of all England. An ecclesiastical title belonging to the archbishop of Canterbury, who is styled " primate of all England and metropolitan." Anciently, indeed, he had primary jurisdiction, not only over all England, but in Ireland too; and it was from him that the Irish bishops received consecration, for Ireland had no other archbishop till the year 1152; and the archbishop of Canterbury was then denominated or&is Britannici pontifex. But for a long period, up to a recent date, Ireland had four archbishops, one for each of the four provinces of Armagh, Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam, all of whom were distinguished by the title of primate; but, by the recent Stats. 3 & 4 Wm. IV. eh. 37, and 4 & 5 Wra. IV. ch. 90, the number was diminished to two, the two others being reduced to the rank of bishops; and, by a still more recent act (32 & 33 Vict. ch. 42), the entire English hierarchy in Ireland has been abolished. The archbishop of York is sometimes styled primate of England. See Burns Ecd. Law, by Phillimore.

eccles. law. An archbishop who has jurisdiction over one or several other metropolitans.