bishop

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English bishop, from Old English biscop (“bishop”), from Vulgar Latin *biscopus, from Latin episcopus (“overseer, supervisor”), from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos, “overseer”), from ἐπί (epi, “over”) + σκοπέω (skopeō, “I examine”). Cognate with West Frisian biskop (“bishop”), Dutch bisschop (“bishop”), German Bischof (“bishop”), Swedish biskop (“bishop”), Norwegian biskop (“bishop”), Icelandic biskup (“bishop”), Gothic  (aipiskaupus, “bishop”).

Alternative forms

• byshop (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɪʃəp/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

bishop (plural bishops)

Wikipedia

A Staunton bishop (chess)

1. A high ranking official in the Catholic church who governs a diocese, or a similar official in other denominations and religions. (Occasionally abbreviated as Bp. when used as a title.)
2. (chess) A piece that may be moved only diagonally.

   The bishop is confined to squares of a single color.

3. (slang) penis (see bash the bishop).
4. (slang) sex toy.

Translations

church official

• Albanian: peshkop (sq)
• Arabic: أسقف (ar) ('úsquf)
• Armenian: եպիսկոպոս (hy) (episkopos)
• Azeri: yepiskop (az)
• Breton: eskob (br) m
• Bulgarian: епископ (bg) (episkop) m, владика (bg) (vladika) m
• Catalan: bisbe (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 主教 (cmn) (zhǔjiào)

• Czech: biskup (cs) m
• Dalmatian: pascu m
• Danish: biskop (da) c
• Dutch: bisschop (nl) m
• Esperanto: episkopo (eo)
• Estonian: piiskop (et)
• Faroese: biskupur (fo) m, bispur (fo) m
• Finnish: piispa (fi)
• French: évêque (fr) m
• Friulian: vescul m
• Galician: bispo (gl) m
• Georgian: ეპისკოპოსი (ka) (episkoposi)
• German: Bischof (de) m
• Greek: επίσκοπος (el) (epískopos) m
• Hebrew: בישוף (he) (bishof) m
• Hungarian: püspök (hu)
• Icelandic: biskup (is) m
• Irish: easpag (ga) m
• Italian: vescovo (it) m
• Japanese: 主教 (ja) (しゅきょう, shukyō) (Orthodox and Anglican church), 司教 (ja) (しきょう, shikyō) (Catholic church)
• Latin: episcopus (la) m
• Latvian: bīskaps (lv)
• Lithuanian: vyskupas (lt) m
• Macedonian: епископ (mk) (épiskop) m, бискуп (mk) (bískup) m
• Malay: biskop (ms)

• Maltese: isqof (mt) m
• Manx: aspick (gv) m
• Mongolian: хүрээний тэргүүн (mn) (hüreenij tergüün)
• Northern Sami: bisma
• Norwegian: biskop (no)
• Occitan: avesque (oc) m
• Old Church Slavonic: бискѹпъ (biskupŭ) m
• Old English: biscop (ang) m
• Ossetian: алчер (alčer)
• Persian: اسقف (fa) (osghof)
• Polish: biskup (pl) m
• Portuguese: bispo (pt) m
• Romanian: episcop (ro) m
• Romansch: uvestg (rm) m
• Russian: епископ (ru) (jepískop) m
• Samoan: 'epikopō (sm)
• Sardinian: obíscu (sc) m
• Scottish Gaelic: easbaig (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: епископ (sh) m, бискуп (sh) m

  Roman: episkop (sh) m, biskup (sh) m

• Sicilian: vìscuvu (scn) m
• Skolt Sami: aa´rhel
• Slovak: biskup (sk) m
• Slovene: škòf (sl) m
• Spanish: obispo (es) m
• Swedish: biskop (sv) c
• Turkish: piskopos (tr)
• Vilamovian: bisküp
• Volapük: (male or female) bijop (vo), (male) hibijop (vo), (female) jibijop (vo)
• Welsh: esgob (cy) m
• Yiddish: ביסקופּ (yi) (biskup) m
• Yup'ik: allgiliyaq

chess piece

• Translingual: ♗, ♝
• Arabic: فيل (ar) (fiil) m
• Armenian: փիղ (hy) (p'iġ)
• Breton: furlukin (br) m
• Bulgarian: офицер (bg) (oficer) m
• Catalan: alfil (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 象 (cmn) (xiàng)

• Czech: střelec (cs) m
• Danish: løber (da) c
• Dutch: loper (nl) m
• Esperanto: kuriero (eo)
• Estonian: oda (et)
• Faroese: bispur (fo) m
• Finnish: lähetti (fi)
• French: fou (fr) m
• Georgian: კუ (ka) (ku)
• German: Läufer (de) m
• Greek: αξιωματικός (el) (axiomatikós) m
• Hebrew: רץ (he) (ratz) f
• Hindi: ऊँट (hi) (ū.nt') m
• Hungarian: futó (hu), futár (hu), bolond (hu)
• Icelandic: biskup (is) m
• Irish: easpag (ga) m
• Italian: alfiere (it) m

• Japanese: ビショップ (ja) (bishoppu), 角行 (ja) (かくぎょう, kakugyō)
• Khmer: ​គោល (km) (koul)
• Korean: 비숍 (ko) (bisyop)
• Lithuanian: rikis (lt) m
• Macedonian: ловец (mk) (lóvec) m
• Malay: gajah (ms)
• Maltese: isqof (mt) m
• Middle Persian: 𐭯𐭩𐭫 (pīl)
• Norwegian: løper (no) m
• Old English: biscop (ang) m
• Persian: فیل (fa) (fil)
• Polish: goniec (pl) m
• Portuguese: bispo (pt) m
• Romanian: nebun (ro) m
• Romansch: (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) currider (rm) m, (Sutsilvan) curider (rm) m, (Surmiran) currier (rm) m, (Puter, Vallader) curridur (rm) m
• Russian: слон (ru) (slon) m, офицер (ru) (oficér) m (informal)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ловац (sh) m, тркач (sh) m, лауфер (sh) m

  Roman: lovac (sh) m, trkač (sh) m, laufer (sh) m

• Slovak: strelec (sk) m
• Slovene: tekáč (sl) m, lôvec (sl) m
• Spanish: alfil (es) m, arfil (es) m
• Swedish: löpare (sv) c
• Turkish: fil (tr)
• Urdu: اونٹ (ur) (ū.nt') m

Related terms

• archbishop
• bash the bishop
• Bishop Barker
• bishophood
• bishopric
• bishopship

See also

• Appendix:Chess_pieces
• (chess pieces) chessman, chess piece, chess piece, chesspiece; bishop,‎ castle/‎rook,‎ king,‎ knight,‎ pawn,‎ queen ^{(Category: en:Chess) [edit]}
• diocese
• episcopal
• Episcopalian
• patriarch
• primate
• vicar apostolic

Verb

bishop (third-person singular simple present bishops, present participle bishoping, simple past and past participle bishoped)

1. To admit into the church by confirmation; to confirm.

Etymology 2

From the surname of the person who first practised it.

Verb

bishop (third-person singular simple present bishops, present participle bishoping, simple past and past participle bishoped)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To make (a horse) seem younger, by cutting its teeth short, then scooping out an oval cavity in the corner nippers and burning it black with a hot iron.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of J. H. Walsh to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.