Standard Lemma guide

caesaropapism

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌsiːzəɹəʊˈpeɪpɪzm̩/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌsiːzəɹoʊˈpeɪpɪz(ə)m/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: government, lifestyle, religion

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: caesaropapacy, caesaropapalism, caesaropopism

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Alternative letter-case form of caesaropapism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the doctrine that the state is supreme over the church in ecclesiastical matters

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Erastianism, Byzantinism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: theological doctrine

History

Etymology

From caesar + -o- + papism, probably modelled after New Latin caesaro-papia, coined by the German ecclesiastical jurist Justus Henning Böhmer (1674–1749) in his work Jus ecclesiasticum Protestantium (Ecclesiastical Law of the Protestants, 1714–1736).

Across languages

Translations

44 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Asturian: cesaropapismu — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Belarusian: цэзарапапізм (cezarapapizm) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Breton: kezarpabouriezh — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Bulgarian: цезаропапизъм (cezaropapizǎm) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Catalan: cesaropapisme — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Cebuano: sesaropapismo — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Chinese Mandarin: 政教合一 (zhèngjiào héyī) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Czech: caesaropapismus — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Danish: Cæsareopapisme — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Danish: Cæsaropapisme — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Dutch: cesaropapie — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Esperanto: cezaropapismo — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • French: césaropapisme — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • German: Cäsaropapismus — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Greek: Καισαροπαπισμός (Kaisaropapismós) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Hebrew: קיסרופאפיזם — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Hungarian: cezaropapizmus — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Indonesian: kaesaropapisme — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Interlingua: Cesaropapismo — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Italian: cesaropapismo — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Japanese: カエサロパピスム — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Japanese: 皇帝教皇主義 — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Korean: 황제교황주의 (hwangjegyohwangjuui) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Macedonian: цезаропапизмот (cezaropapizmot) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Macedonian: царопапизам (caropapizam) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Macedonian: кајзеропапизам (kajzeropapizam) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Norwegian Bokmål: cæsaropapisme — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Polish: cezaropapizm — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Portuguese: cesaropapismo — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Romanian: cezaropapism — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Russian: цезаропапи́зм (cezaropapízm) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Russian: цезарепапи́зм (cezarepapízm) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Serbo-Croatian: цезаропапѝзам — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Serbo-Croatian: cezaropapìzam — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Slovak: cézaropapizmus — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Slovak: štátne cirkevníctvo — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Slovene: cezaropapizem — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Spanish: cesaropapismo — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Swedish: caesareopapism — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Thai: จักรพรรดิสันตะปาปานิยม — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Turkish: sezaropapizm — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Ukrainian: цезаропапізм (cezaropapizm) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Ukrainian: цезарепапізм (cezarepapizm) — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters
  • Welsh: Cesar-Babaeth — combination of state (originally imperial) power with religious authority; state authority over ecclesiastical matters