Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Diocese
Di′o·cese, n.; pl. Dioceses (#). [OE. diocise, OF. diocise, F. diocése, L. dioecesis, fr. Gr. διοίκησις housekeeping, administration, a province, a diocese, fr. διοικεῖν to keep house, manage; διά through + οἰκεῖν to manage a household, οἶκος a house. See Economy.] (Eccl.) The circuit or extent of a bishop's jurisdiction; the district in which a bishop exercises his ecclesiastical authority. [Frequently, but improperly, spelt diocess.]