[con.sis.to.ry] n, pl -ries [ME consistorie, fr. MF, fr. ML & LL; ML consistorium church tribunal, fr. LL, imperial council, fr. L consistere] (14c) 1: a solemn assembly: council
2: a church tribunal or governing body: as a: a solemn meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals convoked and presided over by the pope b: a church session in some Reformed churches
3: the organization that confers the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry usu. from the 19th to the 32d inclusive; also: a meeting of such an organization -- con.sis.tor.i.al adj