The office, position, or authority of an abbot or abbess who leads a monastery or abbey.
From Middle English abbacy, from abbey, from Old French abeie, from Latin abbatia, from Aramaic abba (father).
The chain is beautiful: an Aramaic word meaning 'father' became 'abbot' became 'abbacy'—showing how Christianity's Aramaic roots traveled into English through Latin and French!
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