Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - consistory

 noun  (plural -ries)  Etymology: Middle English consistorie, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin & Late Latin; Medieval Latin consistorium church tribunal, from Late Latin, imperial council, from Latin consistere  Date: 14th century  1. a solemn assembly ; council  2. a church tribunal or governing body: as  a. a solemn meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals convoked and presided over by the pope  b. a church session in some Reformed churches  3. the organization that confers the degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry usually from the 19th to the 32d inclusive; also a meeting of such an organization  • consistorial adjective