Definition

Describing a church or religious group that governs itself independently without outside authority.

Example

The autocephalous church made its own decisions without interference from other religious leaders.

Conversation

Did you know that the church in our town is autocephalous?

Really? I didn't realize that meant it doesn’t answer to a higher authority.

Yeah, it’s interesting how they manage everything independently.

It must give them a lot of freedom in their decisions.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Autocephalous → It is formed from "auto-" (from Greek "αὐτός", meaning self) and "cephalus" (from Greek "κεφαλή", meaning head). The word describes a church that is self-governing or has its own head, particularly in the context of Orthodox Christianity.

Memory Tip

Think of 'self' ('auto-') and 'head' ('cephalus') to remember that 'autocephalous' refers to a church that governs itself.

Visually Confused Words