ἐπαρχία

English (LSJ)

ἡ,
A the government of an ἔπαρχος, or the district governed by him = Lat. provincia, Plb.2.19.2, SIG888.45 (Scaptopara, iii A. D.), Str.3.4.20, 17.3.25 (pl.), D.S.37.10, 38.8, al., Act.Ap.23.34, Plu.Caes.4; of Carthage, empire, Phleg.Mir. 18.
II military 'command', force occupying a district, Ph.Bel. 96.49 (pl.).

German (Pape)

[Seite 905] ἡ, Amt u. Würde des Eparchos; die Provinz, Plut. Caes. 4 u. öfter, u. a. Sp.

French (Bailly abrégé)

ας (ἡ) :
province ou gouvernement, préfecture.
Étymologie: ἔπαρχος.

Russian (Dvoretsky)

ἐπαρχία: ἡ область Diod.; в Риме (лат. provincia) провинция Polyb., Plut., NT.

Greek (Liddell-Scott)

ἐπαρχία: ἡ, τὸ ἀξίωμα, ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐπάρχου, Διοδ. Ἐκλ. 498, 77, Ἐπικτ. Διατρ. 4. 1, 55., 4. 7, 21, Πλούτ., κλ. 2) ἐπὶ τόπου, διαμέρισμα χώρας διοικούμενον ὑπὸ ἐπάρχου ἢ ἐπισκόπου, Ἑβδ. (Ἰουδὶθ Γ΄, 6 ὡς διάφ. γρ.), Πολύβ. 1. 15, 10., 1. 17, 5 κ. ἀλλαχοῦ, Στράβ. 3. 4, 20., 10. 4, 22., 12. 1, 4., 17. 3, 24, κτλ., Πράξ. Ἀπ. κγ΄, 34, κε΄, 1, Συλλ. Ἐπιγρ. 2597· ἐπιβαίνει ἀλλοτρίαις ἐπαρχίαις καὶ χειροτονεῖ ἐπισκόπους Φωτίου Βιβλιοθ. σ. 19. 16, ἔκδ. Βεκκήρου: - ἐνιαχοῦ δὲν εἶναι φανερὸν ἂν ἀναφέρηται εἰς τὸ διαμέρισμα, ὃ διοικεῖ ὁ ἔπαρχος ἢ εἰς τὸ ἀξίωμα αὐτοῦ.

English (Strong)

from a compound of ἐπί and ἄρχω (meaning a governor of a district, "eparch"); a special region of government, i.e. a Roman præfecture: province.

Greek Monolingual

η (AM ἐπαρχία) έπαρχος
νεοελλ.
1. διοικητική περιφέρεια μικρότερη από τον νομό
2. κάθε περιοχή της χώρας εκτός από την πρωτεύουσα («ήλθε από την επαρχία»)
αρχ.-μσν.
1. η αρχή, το αξίωμα του έπαρχου
2. η διοικητική περιοχή που διοικεί ο έπαρχος («ἐκ μὲν τῆς Ρωμαίων ἐπαρχίας ἀσφαλῶς ἐπανῆλθον», Πολ.)
μσν.
1. εκκλ. περιφέρεια που περιέχει πολλές επισκοπές
2. εξουσία, αξίωμα
αρχ.
1. (για την Καρχηδόνα) κράτος
2. ο στρατός που κατέχει μια επαρχία.
η
1. αρχή, εξουσία («να πάψουν οι δόξες σου κι η επαρχία σου η τόση», Ερωφίλη)
2. αξίωμα («να πάρει στανικό σου την επαρχία σου», Ερωφίλη).

Greek Monotonic

ἐπαρχία: ἡ, το αξίωμα του επάρχου, σε Πλούτ.

Middle Liddell

ἐπαρχία, ἡ,
the government of a province, Plut. [from ἔπαρχος

Wiktionary EN

1. one of the districts of the Roman Empire at the third echelon
2. one of the administrative sub-provincial units of post-Ottoman independent Greece
3. in pre-schism Christian Church, name for a province under the supervision of the metropolitan
4. in Eastern Christendom, diocese of a bishop

Wikipedia EN

Eparchy (Greek: ἐπαρχία, Latin: eparchía / overlordship) is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an eparch, who is a bishop. Depending on the administrative structure of a specific Eastern Church, eparchy can belong to an ecclesiastical province (usually a metropolis), but it can also be exempt. Each eparchy is divided into parishes, in the same manner as a diocese in Western Churches. Historical development of eparchies in various Eastern Churches was marked by local distinctions, that can be observed in modern ecclesiastical practices of Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches.

The English word eparchy is an anglicized term, that comes from the original Greek word (Koinē Greek: ἐπαρχία, romanized: eparchía, lit. 'overlordship', Byzantine Greek pronunciation: [e.parˈçi.a]). It is an abstract noun, formed with an intensive prefix (ἐπι-, epi-, lit. 'over-' + ἄρχειν, árchein, lit. 'to be ruler'). It is commonly Latinized as eparchia. The term can be loosely translated as the rule over something (literally: an overlordship). The term had various meanings and multiple uses throughout history, mainly in politics and administration, starting from the Hellenistic period, and continuing throughout the Roman era.

In the Greco-Roman world, it was used as a Greek equivalent for the Latin term provincia, denoting province, the main administrative unit of the Roman Empire. The same use was employed in the early Byzantine Empire, until major administrative reforms, that were undertaken between the 7th and 9th centuries, abolishing the old provincial system. In modern times, the term was also employed within administrative systems of some countries, like Greece and Cyprus.

Since it was commonly used as the main Greek designation for an administrative province of the Roman Empire, the term eparchy consequently gained an additional use among Greek-speaking Christians, denoting ecclesiastical structures on the provincial level of Church administration, within Eastern Christianity. Such terminological borrowing resulted from the final consolidation of the provincial (metropolitan) system in the 4th century. The First Ecumenical Council (325) confirmed (Canon IV) that all bishops of each civil province should be grouped in one ecclesiastical province, headed by a metropolitan (bishop of the provincial capital). Since civil provinces were called eparchies in Greek, the same term was used to define ecclesiastical provinces. Such use became customary, and metropolitan provinces came to be known as eparchies