Titular,

Titular, one who enjoys the bare title of an office, without the actual possession of that office. Thus, the English kings styled themselves kings of France from the time of Henry IV. down to 1800. In English Ecclesiastical Law a titular is a person invested with a title in virtue of which he holds a benefice, whether he performs its duties or not. In Scotland the term was used by laymen invested at the Reformation with church lands; see TEINDS. Leo XIII. altered to 'titular bishops' the old title of bishops in partibus (see Vol. VI. p. 149).