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Pontifical vs Arbitrary - What's the difference?

pontifical | arbitrary |

As adjectives the difference between pontifical and arbitrary

is that pontifical is of or pertaining to a pontiff while arbitrary is (usually|of a decision) based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.

As nouns the difference between pontifical and arbitrary

is that pontifical is a book containing the offices, or formulas, used by a pontiff while arbitrary is anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.

pontifical

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Of or pertaining to a pontiff.
  • # Of or pertaining to a bishop; episcopal.
  • # Of or pertaining to a pope; papal.
  • Pompous, dignified or dogmatic.
  • Of or pertaining to the pontifices of Ancient Rome.
  • Of or relating to the building of bridges.
  • * Milton
  • Now had they brought the work by wondrous art / Pontifical , a ridge of pendent rock / Over the vexed abyss.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A book containing the offices, or formulas, used by a pontiff.
  • * 1995 , Richard A. Jackson, Ordines coronationis Franciae: texts and ordines for the coronation of Frankish and French kings and queens in the Middle Ages , page 30:
  • Both ordines are related to an ordo in a pontifical in Reims, the Ordo of 1200 (Ordo XIX). The latter was to be consulted again and again, and its formulas were to have a marked effect upon the French ceremony;
  • * 2001 , Leon F. Strieder, The Promise of Obedience: A Ritual History , page 32:
  • William Durandus, bishop of Mende in the south of France, compiled a pontifical' in three books. William never intended his work to be a universal ' pontifical , but its clarity of arrangement and quality of substance, along with

    Usage notes

    The plural, pontificals , refers to "the vestments of a bishop". ----

    arbitrary

    English

    Adjective

    (arbitrariness) (en adjective)
  • (usually, of a decision) Based on individual discretion or judgment; not based on any objective distinction, perhaps even made at random.
  • Benjamin Franklin's designation of "positive" and "negative" to different charges was arbitrary . In fact, electrons flow in the opposite direction to conventional current.
    The decision to use 18 years as the legal age of adulthood was arbitrary , as both age 17 and 19 were reasonable alternatives.
  • Determined by impulse rather than reason; heavy-handed.
  • "The Russian trials were Stalin's purges, with which he attempted to consolidate his power. Like most people in the West, I believed these show trials to be the arbitrary acts of a cruel dictator." ( Max Born, Letters to Einstein)
  • (mathematics) Any and all possible.
  • The equation is true for an arbitrary value of x.
  • Determined by independent arbiter.
  • To secure food safety, there should first be a national standard to arbitrarily state what is wholesome and what is not; second, the final buyer should know exactly what he is purchasing. ( The World's Work ...: a history of our time)

    Noun

    (arbitraries)
  • Anything arbitrary, such as an arithmetical value or a fee.