Word.ws English Dictionary

advowson

UK/ədˈvaʊ.z(ə)n/

advowson noun: the right to present a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church office.

Noun

advowson (plural advowsons)

  1. (UK) The right to present a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church office.
    • The advowson of the parsonages of Sempringham and Tirington, being the right of his father, he [St. Gilbert] was presented by him [his father] to those united livings, in 1123.1866, Rev. Alban Butler, chapter IV, in The Lives of the Saints, volume II (February)
    • Advowson is the right to appoint the incumbent clergy of a parish, so three advowsons meant three incumbents.2017, Ben Aaronovitch, The Furthest Station, Gollancz, page 88

Forms of advowson

pluraladvowsons

Origin of advowson

From Middle English avowson, from Anglo-Norman avouson, from Latin advocātiō. Doublet of advocation.

Questions about advowson

What does advowson mean?
Advowson means the right to present a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church office.
What part of speech is advowson?
Advowson is a noun.
How do you pronounce advowson?
Advowson is pronounced /ədˈvaʊ.z(ə)n/ (UK).
What is the plural of advowson?
The plural of advowson is advowsons.

Words near advowson in the dictionary

  1. advowees
  2. advowrer
  3. advowrers
  4. advowries
  5. advowry
  6. advowson
  7. advowsonage
  8. advowsonages
  9. advowsons
  10. advowtries
  11. advowtry

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: advowson (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “advowson.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/advowson. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.