pontiff

American  

[pon-tif] / ˈpɒn tɪf /

noun

1. any pontifex.

2. any high or chief priest.

3. Ecclesiastical.

   1. a bishop.

   2. the Roman Catholic pope, the Bishop of Rome.

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pontiff British  

/ ˈpɒntɪf /

noun

1. a former title of the pagan high priest at Rome, later used of popes and occasionally of other bishops, and now confined exclusively to the pope

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pontiff Cultural  

1. Another name for the pope. Pontiff comes from a Latin word, meaning “bridge builder,” that was used as a title for some of the priests of ancient Rome.

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Etymology

Origin of pontiff

1600–10; earlier pontife < French, short for Latin pontifex pontifex

Explanation

In Catholicism, the pontiff is the Pope, the head of the Roman Catholic church. When the pontiff visits a city, thousands of people come out to watch his motorcade go by. In ancient Rome, a pontiff was one of many high-ranking religious authorities — in fact, there was a whole group of them, known collectively as the College of Pontiffs. Today, it's strictly accurate to call any Catholic bishop a pontiff, but the vast majority of Catholics reserve the word for the Bishop of Rome, otherwise known as the Pope. The word means "high priest," from a root meaning "bridge-maker."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pontiff

Willey wrote a book on the late pontiff - The promise of Francis: The man, the Pope, and the challenge of change - which he presented to Francis in 2016.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

In a letter addressed to fellow Americans on the 250th anniversary of US independence, the pontiff said the Catholic value of defending life included "welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants".

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

But these days, he’s been attacking Pope Leo XIV, even going so far as to chide the pontiff to “to be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026

The pontiff, fluent in Spanish, also held a private meeting with Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny, just after addressing a crowd of 80,000 people at Real Madrid's famed Bernabeu stadium.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

People aren’t ordinarily carried in chairs in New Hampshire, and as they raised him up he looked very strange to me, like some tragic and exalted personage, a stricken pontiff.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles

Related Words

• pope