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

What the exarch Olympius, by special command of the emperor Constans II. did while it was being held, has been narrated above.

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

So St. Martin, when accused at his trial of favouring an enemy of the emperor, replied: “What was I to resist an exarch, without any force of my own?”

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

The representation of the see was vested in the three chief officers; the primicerius of the notaries, the archpriest and the archdeacon informed of the fact the exarch of Ravenna.

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.