monsignor

/mɒnˈsiː.njə/

Etymology

From Italian monsignore, from signore under influence from Middle French monseigneur. Doublet of monseigneur and monsieur.

noun

  1. An ecclesiastic title bestowed on some Roman Catholic clerics by the Pope.“He goes one day to hear Father Hecker preach on the Destiny of Man, on another to hear Monsignor Pie, Bishop of Poitiers, then Archbishop Manning, and again Monsignor Mermillod and Father Burke. […] We have just made her a grand festa for her day, the 20th—twelve Masses, cardinal, two archbishops, two monsignori, the other seven, priests.”