Prelate

n. [L. Lat. prælatus, from præferre, prælatum, to prefer; It. prelato, Sp. prelado, Pr. prelat, Fr. prélat. See PREFER.] A clergyman of a superior order, having authority over the lower clergy, as an archbishop, bishop, &c.; a dignitary of the church;—often, with the words derived from it, used invidiously, in English ecclesiastical history, by dissenters, respecting the Established Church system.

Hear him but reason in divinity . . . You would desire the king were made a prelate. Shak.