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simony
5 dictionary results for: Simony
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
si·mo·ny       [sahy-muh-nee, sim-uh-] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.the making of profit out of sacred things.
2.the sin of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferments, benefices, etc.
[Origin: 1175–1225; ME simonie < LL simōnia; so called from Simon Magus, who tried to purchase apostolic powers; see Simon (def. 5), -y3]

—Related forms
si·mon·ist, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
si·mo·ny       (sī'mə-nē, sĭm'ə-)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   The buying or selling of ecclesiastical pardons, offices, or emoluments.


[Middle English simonie, from Old French, from Late Latin simōnia, after Simon Magus, a sorcerer who tried to buy spiritual powers from the Apostle Peter (Acts 8:9-24).]

si'mo·nist n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
simony 
c.1225, "the buying or selling of sacred things," from O.Fr. simonie, from L.L. simonia, from Simon Magus, the Samaritan magician who was rebuked by Peter when he tried to buy the power of confering the Holy Spirit (Acts viii:18-20).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
simony

noun
traffic in ecclesiastical offices or preferments 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Simony

Sim"o*ny\, n. [F. simonie, LL. simonia, fr. Simon Magus, who wished to purchase the power of conferring the Holy Spirit. Acts viii.] The crime of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferment; the corrupt presentation of any one to an ecclesiastical benefice for money or reward. --Piers Plowman.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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