vatican

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: Vat=i=can

CIDE DICTIONARY

vatican, n. [L. Vaticanus, mons, or collis, Vaticanus, the Vatican hill, in Rome, on the western bank of the Tiber: cf. F. Vatican, It. Vaticano.].

 A magnificent assemblage of buildings at Rome, near the church of St. Peter, including the pope's palace, a museum, a library, a famous chapel, etc.  [1913 Webster]
" The word is often used to indicate the papal authority."  [1913 Webster]

Thunders of the Vatican, the anathemas, or denunciations, of the pope.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

vatican, n.
1 the palace and official residence of the Pope in Rome.
2 papal government.

Idiom

Vatican City an independent Papal State in Rome, instituted in 1929. Vatican Council an ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, esp. that held in 1869-70 or that held in 1962-5.

Derivative

Vaticanism n. Vaticanist n.

Etymology

F Vatican or L Vaticanus name of a hill in Rome

ROGET THESAURUS

vatican

Temple

N temple, place of worship, house of God, house of prayer, temple, cathedral, minster, church, kirk, chapel, meetinghouse, bethel, tabernacle, conventicle, basilica, fane, holy place, chantry, oratory, synagogue, mosque, marabout, pantheon, pagoda, joss house, dogobah, tope, kiosk, kiack, masjid, parsonage, rectory, vicarage, manse, deanery, glebe, Vatican, bishop's palace, Lambeth, altar, shrine, sanctuary, Holy of Holies, sanctum sanctorum, sacristy, sacrarium, communion table, holy table, Lord's table, table of the Lord, pyx, baptistery, font, piscina, stoup, aumbry, sedile, reredos, rood loft, rood screen, chancel, quire, choir, nave, aisle, transept, vestry, crypt, golgotha, calvary, Easter sepulcher, stall, pew, pulpit, ambo, lectern, reading desk, confessional, prothesis, credence, baldachin, baldacchino, apse, belfry, chapter house, presbytery, anxious-bench, anxious-seat, diaconicum, jube, mourner's bench, mourner's seat, cloisters, churchyard, monastery, priory, abbey, friary, convent, nunnery, cloister, claustral, cloistered, monastic, monasterial, conventual, ne vile fano, there's nothing ill can dwell in such a temple.