archbishop
Americannoun
-
archbishops
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of archbishop
before 900; Middle English; Old English arcebisceop ( arce- arch- 1 + bisceop bishop ), modeled on Late Latin archiepiscopus < Greek archiepískopos; replacing Old English hēahbisceop ( see high)
Vocabulary lists containing archbishop
Medieval Europe - Middle School
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Medieval Europe - 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.
See Examples For:
If this sounds more Hollywood than parish church to you, well, it appears that Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, agrees.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2026
And apart from a rabbi and a retired Catholic archbishop, almost all the 20 listed "faith leaders" who will speak are evangelical Protestants.
From Barron's ● May 17, 2026
Still, the archbishop is hopeful that the sparring will blow over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The archbishop said men had also supported her but that this afternoon's service - would give the sense of being "something about celebrating women".
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
Thomas Bradwardine, who was to become archbishop of Canterbury, tried to disprove atomism, Aristotle’s old nemesis.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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They will take their seats alongside around 700 existing life peers, who are appointed to the role, and 26 Church of England archbishops and bishops.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
Soon after, she was one of just a handful of people from Synod appointed to the Crown Nominations Commission, a panel that selects new bishops and archbishops.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2025
This led Mrs Pailing and other senior cathedral staff to write to the archbishops of Canterbury and York expressing their “profound concern” and asking them to intervene.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2024
Francis made the unscripted comments at the end of Mass, calling up the former and current archbishops of Hong Kong, Cardinal John Tong Hon and Archbishop Stephen Chow, to flank him as he spoke.
From Reuters ● Sep. 3, 2023
I thought only archbishops and popes were posh enough for butlers, but vicars can obviously have them too.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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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.