Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Decretal

De·cre′tal (dē·krē′tal), a. [L. decretalis, fr. decretum. See Decree.] Appertaining to a decree; containing a decree; as, a decretal epistle. Ayliffe.

De·cre′tal, n. [LL. decretale, neut. of L. decretalis. See Decretal, a.] 1. (R. C. Ch.) An authoritative order or decree; especially, a letter of the pope, determining some point or question in ecclesiastical law. The decretals form the second part of the canon law.

2. (Canon Law) The collection of ecclesiastical decrees and decisions made, by order of Gregory IX., in 1234, by St. Raymond of Pennafort.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.