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patriarch.

The highest form of bishop, in the ancient world having authority over other bishops in the province but now generally as an honorary title; in Roman Catholicism, considered a bishop second only to the Pope in rank.

9 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈpeɪtɹɪɑːk/UK/ˈpætɹiɑːk/UK/ˈpeɪtɹiɑɹk/US
  1. The highest form of bishop, in the ancient world having authority over other bishops in the province but now generally as an honorary title; in Roman Catholicism, considered a bishop second only to the Pope in rank.

  2. A male leader of a family, tribe or ethnic group, especially one of the twelve sons of Jacob (considered to have created the twelve tribes of Israel) or (in plural) Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

  3. A founder of a political or religious movement, an organization or an enterprise.

  4. An old leader of a village or community.

  5. The male progenitor of a genetic or tribal line, or of a clan or extended family.

  6. The male head of a household or nuclear family.

  7. A shade of purple

Where this word comes from

From Middle English patriark, patriarche, from Late Latin patriarcha; later reinforced by Old French patriarche, from Ancient Greek πατριάρχης (patriárkhēs, “the founder of the tribe/family”), from Ancient Greek πατριά (patriá, “generation, ancestry, descent, tribe, family”) + -ᾰ́ρχης (-ắrkhēs, “-arch”), with some senses likely influenced directly by Latin pāter (“father”) or Ancient Greek πᾰτήρ (pătḗr, “father”). Compare matriarch. By surface analysis, patri- + -arch.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.