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

Most colorful visitors at the opening last week were the Russian and Eastern Orthodox representatives�bearded patriarchs like Archimandrite Vitaly of Russia, Archbishop Panteleimon of Greece and Metropolitan Germanos, Greek Orthodox exarch for Western Europe.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the modern Greek Church an exarch is a deputy, or legate a latere, of the patriarch, whose office it is to visit the clergy and churches in the provinces allotted to him.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 1 "Evangelical Church Conference" to "Fairbairn, Sir William" by Various

Theodorus, a Greek of Jerusalem, was made Pope: it is supposed by the influence of the exarch Isaac.

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

The report sent to the exarch was the more important.

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

And through the sin a great destruction fell on the Roman army, and then the exarch died of disease.”

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