hierarch

American  

[hahy-uh-rahrk, hahy-rahrk] / ˈhaɪ əˌrɑrk, ˈhaɪ rɑrk /

noun

1. a person who rules or has authority in sacred matters; high priest.

2. a person having high position or considerable authority.

3. one of a body of officials or minor priests in certain ancient Greek temples.

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hierarch British  

/ ˈhaɪəˌrɑːk /

noun

1. 1. a person in a position of high priestly authority

   2. a person holding high rank in a religious hierarchy

2. a person at a high level in a hierarchy

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Other Word Forms

• antihierarchal adjective
• hierarchal adjective

Etymology

Origin of hierarch

1480–90; < Medieval Latin hierarcha < Greek hierárchēs steward of sacred rites, equivalent to hier- hier- + -archēs -arch

Example Sentences

“I had the honor of knowing a hierarch who did not hesitate to directly express his opinion, regardless of whether this would displease his interlocutor or even a section of society,” Anastasiades said.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 12, 2022

Those include Bartholomew Samaras, a key confidante of the patriarch; Emmanuel Adamakis, an influential hierarch in the church; and Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, who heads a prestigious seminary on the Turkish island of Halki.

From Washington Times • Aug. 27, 2018

No human, from the greenest convert to the most supreme hierarch, can “lower the bar.”

From Washington Post • May 4, 2018

On paper, then, the Dalai Lama is a living incarnation of a Buddha, the hierarch of a government-in-exile and a doctor of metaphysics.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was no ordinary scholar, this man, but the apotheosis of scholars: the most famous personage in Zosma, save the queen and the hierarch, and the most popular, bar none.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

Related Words

• bishop