Diocese vs. Eparchy — What's the Difference?

In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.

Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word (Koinē Greek: ἐπαρχία, romanized: eparchía, lit. 'overlordship', Byzantine Greek pronunciation: [e.parˈçi.a]; abstract noun formed from intensive prefix ἐπι-, epi-, lit. 'over-' + ἄρχειν, árchein, lit. 'to be ruler'), authentically Latinized as eparchia, which can be loosely translated as the rule or jurisdiction over something, such as a province, prefecture, or territory. It has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian churches.

The district or churches under the jurisdiction of a bishop; a bishopric.

A diocese of an Eastern Orthodox Church.

Administrative division of the later Roman Empire, starting with the tetrarchy.

A district of the Roman Empire at the third echelon.

(religion) Region administered by a bishop.

An administrative sub-provincial unit in post-Ottoman independent Greece.

The circuit or extent of a bishop's jurisdiction; the district in which a bishop exercises his ecclesiastical authority.

In pre-schism Christian Church, a province under the supervision of the metropolitan.

The territorial jurisdiction of a bishop

In Eastern Christendom, a diocese of a bishop.

A province, prefecture, or territory, under the jurisdiction of an eparch or governor; esp., in modern Greece, one of the larger subdivisions of a monarchy or province of the kingdom; in Russia, a diocese or archdiocese.

A province in ancient Greece

A diocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church