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• bishop
  bishop

  noun

  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.
• Bishop
  Bishop

  noun

  Elizabeth, 1911–79, U.S. poet.

bishop

¹ American  

[bish-uhp] / ˈbɪʃ əp /

noun

• bishops
  plural

1. 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.

2. a spiritual supervisor, overseer, or the like.

3. 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.

4. a hot drink made of port wine, oranges, cloves, etc.

5. Also called bishop bird. any of several colorful African weaverbirds of the genus Euplectes, often kept as pets.

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verb (used with object)

bishoped, bishoping

1. to appoint to the office of bishop.

Bishop ² American  

[bish-uhp] / ˈbɪʃ əp /

noun

1. Elizabeth, 1911–79, U.S. poet.

2. Hazel Gladys, 1906–1998, U.S. chemist and businesswoman.

3. John Peale, 1892–1944, U.S. poet and essayist.

4. Morris (Gilbert), 1893–1973, U.S. humorist, poet, and biographer.

5. William Avery Billy, 1894–1956, Canadian aviator: helped to establish Canadian air force.

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bishop ¹ British  

/ ˈbɪʃəp /

noun

1. (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

2. (in some Protestant Churches) a spiritual overseer of a local church or a number of churches

3. a chesspiece, capable of moving diagonally over any number of unoccupied squares of the same colour

4. mulled wine, usually port, spiced with oranges, cloves, etc

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Bishop ² British  

/ ˈbɪʃəp /

noun

1. Elizabeth . 1911–79, US poet, who lived in Brazil. Her poetry reflects her travelling experience, esp in the tropics

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Bishop Scientific  

/ bĭsh′əp /

1. American molecular biologist who, working with Harold Varmus, discovered oncogenes. For this work, Bishop and Varmus shared the 1989 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine.

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bishop Cultural  

1. In some Christian churches, a person appointed to oversee a group of priests or ministers and their congregations. In the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Roman Catholic Church, bishops are considered the successors of the Twelve Apostles.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underbishop
  noun
• bishopless
  adjective
• bishoplike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bishops
  plural

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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

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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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bishop Bishop bishops bishoped bishoping

In the coastal city of Chiclayo, of which he was bishop for eight years, Leo is everywhere, his features stamped on a growing array of merchandise ahead of a planned visit on November 13.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Leo XIV was born in the US city of Chicago but lived in Peru for more than two decades, where he was a missionary and bishop in Chiclayo.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

When Sheen appeared in his Emmy-winning show, “Life is Worth Living,” from 1952 to 1957, he was an auxiliary bishop in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

"I have made mistakes, but I have been blessed to be a priest and a bishop over the past 49 years."

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

The bishop said I should treat myself to something, but I said I couldn’t, I had to save the money.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Soon, though, Bishop and company have a less ambiguous case at hand.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

In 1650 Godfrey Goodman - the Bishop of Gloucester - was banished there by Oliver Cromwell for his religious beliefs.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

While other members like Kenneth Hayes Miller, Isabel Bishop and Reginald Marsh have retained their prominence, Soyer has not, a fact being rectified by Forum Gallery’s mini-retrospective.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

With the nonleague victory, JSerra improves to 4-1, while Bishop Amat falls to 4-1.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

"I went to Loyola with Bishop Manning myself."

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Members of the Doyle family have been invited to join Irish bishops at the ceremony in Mullingar on Sunday afternoon.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

The investigations are commissioned by the pontiff and were introduced in 2019 to combat sexual abuse and hold bishops and other high-ranking Catholic Church officials accountable for their actions.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

America’s bishops have much to learn from Sheen’s witness.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

When appointing bishops and archbishops, the Church presents a candidate to the prime minister who then advises the monarch on who to install in the role.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

So she and Mama decided the next step would be to go to the presiding bishops of our community’s churches.

From "Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High" by Melba Pattillo Beals

In that county burnt milk is still said to be "bishoped."

From In a Green Shade A Country Commentary by Maurice Henry Hewlett

He would be bishoped here, and bishoped there, before the eyes of all palatial men and women, till life would be a burden to him.

From The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope

All over the country the farmers and horse-dealers knew that neither Jasper nor Panuel ever bishoped a gry, or indulged in any other horse-dealing tricks.

From Aylwin by Theodore Watts-Dunton

The archdeacon knew his subject and really understood the business of bishoping, which the others did not, and this was his strong ground.

From Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

His method was by no means soft; on the contrary, it was hard, rapid, severe,—somewhat on the model of Tryggveson's, though with more of bishoping and preaching superadded.

From Early Kings of Norway by Thomas Carlyle

The archdeacon knew his subject, and really understood the business of bishoping, which the others did not.

From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 08 — Fiction by Arthur Mee

The archdeacon knew his subject, and really understood the business of bishoping, which the others did not; and this was his strong ground.

From Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

Have not our Conformists in Scotland hitherto commonly omitted bishoping of children, and the ministration of the sacraments in private places?

From The Works of Mr. George Gillespie (Vol. 1 of 2) by George Gillespie

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