patriarch
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
Old English patriarcha, from Late Latin patriarcha; later reinforced by Anglo-Norman patriarche, Old French patriarche, from Late Latin patriarcha, from Byzantine Greek πατριάρχης (“the founder of the tribe/family”), from Ancient Greek πατριά (“generation, ancestry, descent, tribe, family”) + -αρχης (“-arch”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
patriarch (plural patriarchs)
- (Christianity) 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. [from 9th c.]
- In Biblical contexts, 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. [from 13th c.]
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts II:
- Men and brethren, lett me frely speake unto you of the patriarke David: For he is both deed and buryed, and his sepulcre remayneth with us unto this daye.
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts II:
- A founder of a political or religious movement, an organization or an enterprise. [from 16th c.]
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