congé d'élire en · NOUN
Etymology
Borrowed from French congé d'élire (“leave to choose”).
Meanings
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(qualifier:Anglicanism, uncountable) A licence from the Crown in England issued under the great seal to the dean and chapter of the cathedral church of a diocese, authorizing them to elect a bishop or archbishop upon the vacancy of any episcopal see in England.
The speed was such that the congé d’élire for Worcester arrived before the funeral of the dead bishop.
1966, Owen Chadwick, The Victorian Church, volume 1, page 25, note 2: