visitation

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Formal

n. an official visit to a place to check that everything is being done correctly.

n. a formal visit of inspection or examination by an authority, such as a bishop to a parish or a regulator to an institution.

“The hospital prepared for the annual visitation from the health board.”

“During his episcopal visitation, the bishop reviewed the parish records and met with the local clergy to discuss community outreach.”

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Religion Literary · Formal

n. a major event, like a disaster or a miracle, believed to be sent by God.

n. a significant event, typically an affliction or a blessing, regarded as being ordained by God or fate.

“The village viewed the long drought as a divine visitation for their sins.”

“In the seventeenth century, the plague was frequently interpreted as a terrible visitation upon a wicked city.”

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Science Technical

n. a sudden arrival of a large number of animals or insects in a new area.

n. an unusual and extensive movement of a species into a region where it is not normally found.

“The sudden visitation of snowy owls in the south surprised local birdwatchers.”

“Ecologists are studying the causes behind the periodic visitation of these northern predators into temperate forest zones.”