CONSISTORY

noun (plural -ries) Etymology: Middle English consistorie, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin & Late Latin; Medieval Latin consistorium church tribunal, from Late Latin, imperial council, from Latin consistere Date: 14th century a solemn assembly ; council , a church tribunal or governing body: as, a solemn meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals convoked and presided over by the pope, a church session in some Reformed churches, the organization that confers the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry usually from the 19th to the 32d inclusive, consistorial adjective