principality
/ˌprɪnsɪˈpalɪti
/noun (plural principalities)
1A state ruled by a prince.Perched on a rock, the palace overlooks the principality that Rainier ruled for 56 years....
- Except for a brief period of French rule under Napoleon, the principality has been independent since 1912.
- National Day, 19 November, celebrates Monaco's independence as a principality.
1.1 (the Principality) British Wales.
2 (principalities) (In traditional Christian angelology) the fifth-highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy.Christians often find it hard to adopt the spiritual idiom of the New Testament - to think in terms, that is, of a cosmic struggle between good and evil, of Christ's triumph over the principalities of this world, of the overthrow of hell....
- From the point of view of Christian theology, the martyrs are foot soldiers in the battle of the powers and principalities against the body of Christ.
- The letter does not suggest the power of evil and that of God to be equal, but neither does it dismiss the very real threat exercised by what Paul elsewhere described as the ‘powers and principalities.’
Origin
Middle English (denoting the rank of a prince): from Old French principalite, from late Latin principalitas, from Latin principalis 'first, original' (see principal).