echage

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

echage (plural echages)

1. (Christianity) The chief official in the monastic system of Ethiopia.
   • 1972, Donald Crummey, Priests and Politicians:

     Security in Gondar depended largely on the sanctity of the echage’s quarter as a place of asylum.

   • 2002, Haggai Erlich, The Cross and the River, page 117:

     The emperor sent an evasive reply and, upon crossing the border, made sure that the echage (the head of Ethiopia's monastic system) marched on his right.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 281:

     Täklä Haymanot was the first in a series of monks to become a key figure at Court, as the Echage (ečägé).