Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Prelate

Prelate (?; 48) , noun

[French prélat, Late Latin praelatus, from Latin praelatus, used as past participle of praeferre to prefer, but from a different root. See Elate.]

A clergyman of a superior order, as an archbishop or a bishop, having authority over the lower clergy; a dignitary of the church.
Hear him but reason in divinity,... You would desire the king were made a prelate. — Shakespeare

This word and the words derived from it are often used invidiously, in English ecclesiastical history, by dissenters, respecting the Established Church system.

Prelate , intransitive verb

To act as a prelate. [Obsolete]
Right prelating is busy laboring, and not lording. — Latimer