pontifically

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pon·tif·i·cal

(pŏn-tĭf′ĭ-kəl)

adj.

1. Relating to, characteristic of, or suitable for a pontiff.

2. Pompously dogmatic or self-important; pretentious.

1. pontificals The vestments and insignia of a bishop.

2. A book of forms for ceremonies performed by a bishop.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin pontificālis, of a pontifex, from pontifex, pontific-, pontifex; see pontifex.]

pon·tif′i·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

pontifically

adv (fig) → päpstlich

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

References in periodicals archive ?

The image of Our Lady of Light of Cainta was pontifically crowned Dec.

Pontifical crowning

She would descend on us, over a puzzle or games, to announce pontifically, "If you will come to my room at three o'clock, I should like to read to you." And we appeared dutifully, were read to and dismissed, after a time, meek and quiet.

A Never-Before-Published Essay about Growing Up with Hemingway, Written by His Unrequited High School Crush

(5.) These statistics are compiled by the pontifically approved

A new Pentecost? Catholic theology and "baptism in the Spirit"

He asks Buckingham, "Is it upon record, or else reported/Successively from age to age, he [Julius Caesar] built it?"(3.1.72-73), and goes on to observe pontifically: