bishop
1 Americannoun
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a person who supervises a number of local churches or a diocese, being in the Greek, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other churches a member of the highest order of the ministry.
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a spiritual supervisor, overseer, or the like.
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Chess. one of two pieces of the same color that may be moved any unobstructed distance diagonally, one on white squares and the other on black.
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a hot drink made of port wine, oranges, cloves, etc.
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Also called bishop bird. any of several colorful African weaverbirds of the genus Euplectes, often kept as pets.
verb (used with object)
noun
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Elizabeth, 1911–79, U.S. poet.
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Hazel Gladys, 1906–1998, U.S. chemist and businesswoman.
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John Peale, 1892–1944, U.S. poet and essayist.
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Morris (Gilbert), 1893–1973, U.S. humorist, poet, and biographer.
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William Avery Billy, 1894–1956, Canadian aviator: helped to establish Canadian air force.
noun
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(in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Greek Orthodox Churches) a clergyman having spiritual and administrative powers over a diocese or province of the Church See also suffragan
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(in some Protestant Churches) a spiritual overseer of a local church or a number of churches
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a chesspiece, capable of moving diagonally over any number of unoccupied squares of the same colour
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mulled wine, usually port, spiced with oranges, cloves, etc
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bishop
before 900; Middle English; Old English bisc ( e ) op < Vulgar Latin *ebiscopus, for Late Latin episcopus < Greek epískopos overseer, equivalent to epi- epi- + skopós watcher; see scope
Explanation
A bishop is a religious authority figure in some Christian churches. In many churches, a bishop ordains, or appoints, ministers and priests. In Christian traditions ranging from Roman Catholic to Lutheran, bishops play an important role in church oversight. In many orthodox and Catholic churches, bishops are believed to be the successors to the original twelve apostles from the Bible's New Testament. The chess piece called the bishop comes from this religious figure, and the word itself comes from the Greek episkopos, "watcher or overseer."
Vocabulary lists containing bishop
World Religions
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Medieval Europe - Introductory
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Ancient Rome - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Bishop says that beyond the topics, his comedy was shaped by living in Ireland.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2026
“On paper nostalgia stuff can seem lazy, but as the comedian Dylan Moran says, there are no hack subjects, only subjects not done well,” Bishop says.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2026
Staffordshire Police say the charges against David James Oakley, the Bishop of Northampton, follow his arrest in September last year.
From BBC • Jun. 24, 2026
KYIV, Ukraine—The sight that met Bishop Avraamiy when he arrived at the Dormition Cathedral here shortly after 2 a.m. on Monday was like something torn from the pages of the Bible—or Ukraine’s own bloody history.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 18, 2026
I was at the recruiting office in the Bishop Building on 125th Street at nine o’clock on the morning of my birthday.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.