Hypertext Webster Gateway: "prelate"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Prelate \Prel"ate\ (?; 48), n. [F. pr['e]lat, LL. praelatus, fr.
L. praelatus, used as p. p. of praeferre to prefer, but from
a different root. See {Elate}.]
A clergyman of a superior order, as an archbishop or a
bishop, having authority over the lower clergy; a dignitary
of the church.
Note: This word and the words derived from it are often used
invidiously, in English ecclesiastical history, by
dissenters, respecting the Established Church system.
Hear him but reason in divinity, . . . You would
desire the king were made a prelate. --Shak.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Prelate \Prel"ate\, v. i.
To act as a prelate. [Obs.]
Right prelating is busy laboring, and not lording.
--Latimer.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
prelate
n : a senior clergyman [syn: {archpriest}, {hierarch}, {high
priest}, {primate}]
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