English dictionary · noun

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.

Meaning and definitions

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.

Connected roots

• -archy

  rule, leader

Explore the word family

These words share a recorded root connection. A shared root is a learning clue; it does not establish every step in a word’s history.

• archbishop

  A senior bishop who is in charge of an archdiocese, and presides over a group of dioceses called a province (in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, etc.)

• hierarchy

  A body of authoritative officials organized in nested ranks.

• monarchy

  a form of government with a monarch at the head

• anarchy

  The state of a society being without authorities or an authoritative governing body.

• aristocracy

  the highest class in society; government by a privileged class

• patriarchy

  A social system in which the father is head of the household, having authority over women and children, and in which lineage is traced through the male line.

• archdiocese

  A diocese administered by an archbishop.

• archangel

  A powerful angel that leads many other angels, but is still loyal to a deity, and often seen as belonging to a particular archangelical rank or order within a greater hierarchy of angels. (Judeo-Christian examples: Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel).

• oligarchy

  A government run by and for only a few, often the aristocracy, the wealthy, or their friends and associates.

• archduke

  The son or male-line grandson of an emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

• matriarch

  A female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group.

• matriarchy

  A social system in which the mother is head of household, having authority over men and children, and lineage is traced through the female line.

Save this word and practice it →