archimandrite

American  

[ahr-kuh-man-drahyt] / ˌɑr kəˈmæn draɪt /

noun

Eastern Church.

1. the head of a monastery; an abbot.

2. a superior abbot, having charge of several monasteries.

3. a title given to distinguished celibate priests.

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archimandrite British  

/ ˌɑːkɪˈmændraɪt /

noun

1. Greek Orthodox Church the head of a monastery or a group of monasteries

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Etymology

Origin of archimandrite

1585–95; < Late Latin archimandrīta < Late Greek archimandrī́tēs abbot, equivalent to Greek archi- archi- + Late Greek mándr ( a ) monastery ( Greek: fold, enclosure) + -ītēs -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Then we took a carriage, and Mamma went to the Russian priest's, the archimandrite Alexander.

From Marie Bashkirtseff (From Childhood to Girlhood) by Bashkirtseff, Marie

A tall thick-set deacon walked before me with a long red candle; the grey-headed archimandrite in his golden mitre hurried after him with the censer.

From The Bishop and Other Stories by Garnett, Constance

Two days after his ascent, that gentleman paid a visit to the Armenian monastery at Echmiadzin, and was presented to the archimandrite as the Englishman who had just ascended to the top of “Masis.”

From Across Asia on a Bicycle by Allen, Thomas Gaskell

At last he resolved to send the archimandrite Missael to the village, the one who had formerly been Mitia Smokovnikov's teacher of religion.

From The Forged Coupon by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

After dinner two rich ladies, landowners, arrived and sat for an hour and a half in silence with rigid countenances; the archimandrite, a silent, rather deaf man, came to see him about business.

From The Bishop and Other Stories by Garnett, Constance