Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Pontifical \Pon*tif"ic*al\, a. [L. pontificalis: cf. F.
   pontifical. See {Pontiff}.]
   1. Of or pertaining to a pontiff, or high priest; as,
      pontifical authority; hence, belonging to the pope; papal.

   2. Of or pertaining to the building of bridges. [R.]

            Now had they brought the work by wondrous art
            Pontifical, a ridge of pendent rock Over the vexed
            abyss.                                --Milton.

Pontifical \Pon*tif"ic*al\, n. [F.]
   1. A book containing the offices, or formulas, used by a
      pontiff. --South.

   2. pl. The dress and ornaments of a pontiff. ``Dressed in
      full pontificals.'' --Sir W. Scott.

Source : WordNet®

pontifical
     adj 1: proceeding from or ordered by or subject to a pope or the
            papacy regarded as the successor of the Apostles;
            "papal dispensation" [syn: {papal}, {apostolic}, {apostolical}]
     2: denoting or governed by or relating to a bishop or bishops
        [syn: {episcopal}]
     3: puffed up with vanity; "a grandiloquent and boastful
        manner"; "overblown oratory"; "a pompous speech";
        "pseudo-scientific gobbledygook and pontifical hooey"-
        Newsweek [syn: {grandiloquent}, {overblown}, {pompous}, {portentous}]