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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Consistory \Con*sis"to*ry\ (? or ?; 277) n.; pl. {Consistories}. [L. consistorium a place of assembly, the place where the emperor's council met, fr. consistere: cf. F. consistoire, It. consistorio. See {Consist}.]
1. Primarily, a place of standing or staying together; hence, any solemn assembly or council.
To council summons all his mighty peers, Within thick clouds and dark tenfold involved, A gloomy consistory. --Milton.
2. (Eng. Ch.) The spiritual court of a diocesan bishop held before his chancellor or commissioner in his cathedral church or elsewhere. --Hook.
3. (R. C. Ch.) An assembly of prelates; a session of the college of cardinals at Rome.
Pius was then hearing of causes in consistory. --Bacon.
4. A church tribunal or governing body.
Note: In some churches, as the Dutch Reformed in America, a consistory is composed of the minister and elders of an individual church, corresponding to a Presbyterian church session, and in others, as the Reformed church in France, it is composed of ministers and elders, corresponding to a presbytery. In some Lutheran countries it is a body of clerical and lay officers appointed by the sovereign to superintend ecclesiastical affairs.
5. A civil court of justice. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Consistory \Con*sis"to*ry\, adjective Of the nature of, or pertaining to, a consistory. ''To hold consistory session.'' --Strype.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
consistory
noun: a church tribunal or governing body
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