The office, position, or authority of a bishop; the system of church government led by bishops; or the collective group of bishops in a region.
From Late Latin 'episcopia,' derived from Greek 'episkopos' (overseer), originally meaning someone who watches over or supervises. The word traveled through ecclesiastical Latin into English.
The Greek root 'episkopos' literally means 'overseer'—so bishops were originally just supervisors of early Christian communities, but the word and role evolved into positions of immense religious and political power.
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