simony
Pronunciations (3)
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/ˈsaɪ.mə.ni/
Pronunciation notes
- UK
- US
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/ˈsɪ.mə.ni/
Pronunciation notes
- UK
- US
-
ˈsaɪ.mə.ni
Noun
The buying or selling of spiritual or sacred things, such as ecclesiastical offices, pardons, or consecrated objects.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Synonyms
- Related words
- Examples
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More examples (2)
To his eyes it had no attraction; it savoured of simony, and was likely to bring down upon him harder and more deserved strictures than any he had yet received: he positively declined to become vicar of Puddingdale under any circumstances.
‘There are those two,’ he then said, ‘who were recently arraigned on a charge of high simony. Fancying a monstrance and stealing it and proposing to sell it. They pleaded the usual pagan ignorance.’
He openly practiced simony; in other words, he sold benefices.
Noun
traffic in ecclesiastical offices or preferments
- Synonyms
- Broader terms
Word forms
simonies