simony
nounUK, US /ˈsaɪ.mə.ni/
Etymology From Middle English simonie, symonye, from Old French simonie, from Late Latin simonia, named after Simon Magus (Hebrew שִׁמְעוֹן (Šimʻôn, “Simon”)), with reference to Acts 8:18–20.
1
The buying or selling of spiritual or sacred things, such as ecclesiastical offices, pardons, or consecrated objects.
- To his eyes it had no attraction; it savoured of simony, and was likely to bring down upon him harder and more deserved strictures than any he had yet received: he positively declined to become vicar of Puddingdale under any circumstances.1855, Anthony Trollope, chapter 20, in The Warden:
- ‘There are those two,’ he then said, ‘who were recently arraigned on a charge of high simony. Fancying a monstrance and stealing it and proposing to sell it. They pleaded the usual pagan ignorance.’1989, Anthony Burgess, “Hun”, in The Devil’s Mode:
1 more example
- He openly practiced simony; in other words, he sold benefices.2007, Edwin Mullins, The Popes of Avignon, Blue Bridge, published 2008, page 37: