Etymology

Papal States

Today it means: A country in southern Europe that existed until 1870, comprising the territories of Italy (and some enclaves in France) over which the pope was the ruler in a civil as well as a spiritual sense. Full definition →

Italian Stati Pontifici
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The story

  1. Italian · derived fromStati Pontifici
  2. English todayPapal States

On the model of Italian Stati Pontifici, plural of Stato Pontificio; compare the dated direct calque Pontifical States. The plural is typical in English and reflects the Papal States’ highly regionalised administration, but in various European languages, including contemporary Italian, the singular is more common.

Words from the same roots

ItalianStati Pontifici all →

Pontifical States

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.