Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Abb'e \Ab"b['e]`\ ([.a]b"b[asl]`), n.[F. abb['e]. See {Abbot}.]
   The French word answering to the English abbot, the head of
   an abbey; but commonly a title of respect given in France to
   every one vested with the ecclesiastical habit or dress.

   Note: After the 16th century, the name was given, in social
         parlance, to candidates for some priory or abbey in the
         gift of the crown. Many of these aspirants became well
         known in literary and fashionable life. By further
         extension, the name came to be applied to unbeneficed
         secular ecclesiastics generally. --Littr['e].