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

Derived 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