commandery
A territory under the control of a commander, particularly:
Noun
- A territory under the control of a commander, particularly:
-
(historical) The smallest division of a manor under the control of a commander of an order of knights, originally only the Knights Hospitaller.
-
(historical) Any of various administrative divisions of imperial China.
-
- A chapter of a secret order, especially the Knights Templar (order affiliated with Freemasonry).
Origin
From French commanderie, from Late Latin commendaria, from Latin commendare. In the Chinese administrative division sense, used as a translation of 府 (fǔ) and 郡 (jùn).
Forms
commanderies commandary commandry commandarie commanderie commaundrie commaundarie commaunderie commaundry commaundary commaundery