Con*sis"to*ry . [L. consistorium a place of assembly, the place where the emperor's council met, fr. consistere: cf. F. consistoire, It. consistorio. See Consist.]
1.
Primarily, a place of standing or staying together; hence, any solemn assembly or council.
To council summons all his mighty peers,
Within thick clouds and dark tenfold involved,
A gloomy consistory.
Milton.
2. Eng. Ch.
The spiritual court of a diocesan bishop held before his chancellor or commissioner in his cathedral church or elsewhere.
Hook.
3. R. C. Ch.
An assembly of prelates; a session of the college of cardinals at Rome.
Pius was then hearing of causes in consistory.
Bacon.
4.
A church tribunal or governing body.
⇒ In some churches, as the Dutch Reformed in America, a consistory is composed of the minister and elders of an individual church, corresponding to a Presbyterian church session, and in others, as the Reformed church in France, it is composed of ministers and elders, corresponding to a presbytery. In some Lutheran countries it is a body of clerical and lay officers appointed by the sovereign to superintend ecclesiastical affairs.
5.
A civil court of justice.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
© Webster 1913.
Con*sis"to*ry, a.
Of the nature of, or pertaining to, a consistory.
"To hold
consistory session."
Strype.
© Webster 1913.