Impropriation

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Impropriation \Im*pro`pri*a"tion\, n.
     1. The act of impropriating; as, the impropriation of
        property or tithes; also, that which is impropriated.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Eng. Eccl. Law)


        (a) The act of putting an ecclesiastical benefice in the
            hands of a layman, or lay corporation.
        (b) A benefice in the hands of a layman, or of a lay
            corporation.
            [1913 Webster]

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  IMPROPRIATION, eccl. law. The act, of employing the revenues of a church 
  living to one's own use; it is also a parsonage or ecclesiastical living in 
  the hands of a layman, or which descends by inheritance. Tech. Dict. h.t.