exarch

¹ American  

[ek-sahrk] / ˈɛk sɑrk /

noun

1. Eastern Church.

   1. a patriarch's deputy.

   2. a title originally applied to a patriarch but later applied only to a bishop ranking below a patriarch and above a metropolitan.

2. the ruler of a province in the Byzantine Empire.

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exarch ² American  

[ek-sahrk] / ˈɛk sɑrk /

adjective

Botany.

1. (of a primary xylem or root) developing from the center; having the youngest cells closest to the core.

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exarch ¹ British  

/ ˈɛksɑːk /

noun

1. the head of certain autonomous Orthodox Christian Churches, such as that of Bulgaria and Cyprus

2. any of certain Eastern Orthodox bishops, lower in rank than a patriarch but higher than a metropolitan

3. the governor of a province in the Byzantine Empire

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exarch ² British  

/ ˈɛksɑːk /

adjective

1. botany (of a xylem strand) having the first-formed xylem external to that formed later Compare endarch mesarch

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Other Word Forms

• exarchal
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of exarch¹

1580–90; < Late Latin exarchus superintendent < Greek éxarchos overseer, leader, equivalent to ex- ex- ³ + -archos -arch

Origin of exarch²

1890–95; ex- ² + Greek archḗ beginning

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

exarch

The exarch then contented himself with plundering the Lateran treasury.

From The Formation of Christendom, Volume VII by Allies, Thomas W.

St. Gregory, in his fourteen years' struggle with all the elements of civil dissolution, accounts the exarch Romanus as his worst enemy.

From The Formation of Christendom, Volume VII by Allies, Thomas W.

Isaac, the exarch in Ravenna, found himself in want of money.

From The Formation of Christendom, Volume VII by Allies, Thomas W.

The last instance of this degrading mark of servitude was the confirmation of Pope Gregory III.'s election in 731 by the exarch of Ravenna.

From The Formation of Christendom, Volume VII by Allies, Thomas W.

We hear nothing of the exarch giving help either to defend or to ransom the emperor's subjects.

From The Formation of Christendom, Volume VII by Allies, Thomas W.