Advowson. The right, in the Christian Church, to present to a bishop a nominee for appointment to a parish or other benefice. This right may be in the hands of the bishop, in which case it is usually described as ‘collating’. In the 20th cent. in England the right of advowson or patronage has been increasingly concentrated in the hands of ecclesiastical authorities.

advowson in ecclesiastical law, the right to recommend a member of the Anglican clergy for a vacant benefice, or to make such an appointment. The word is recorded from Middle English, in the sense ‘patronage of a religious house or benefice’ with the obligation to defend it and speak for it, and comes ultimately from Latin advocare ‘summon’.

advowson patronage of an ecclesiastical office, etc.; right of presentation to a benefice. XIII. — AN. a(d)voweson, OF. avoeson :- L. advocātiō, -ōn-, f. advocāre; see prec., -ATION.