patriarch

[pey-tree-ahrk]

noun

1. the male head of a family or tribal line.

2. a person regarded as the father or founder of an order, class, etc.

3. any of the very early Biblical personages regarded as the fathers of the human race, comprising those from Adam to Noah antediluvian patriarchs and those between the Deluge and the birth of Abraham.

4. any of the three great progenitors of the Israelites: Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob.

5. any of the sons of Jacob (the twelve patriarchs), from whom the tribes of Israel were descended.

6. (in the early Christian church) any of the bishops of any of the ancient sees of Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, or Rome having authority over other bishops.

7. Greek Orthodox Church.,  the head of any of the ancient sees of Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, or Jerusalem, and sometimes including other sees of chief cities.

8. the head of certain other churches in the East, as the Coptic, Nestorian, and Armenian churches, that are not in full communication with the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople.

9. Roman Catholic Church.

   1. the pope as patriarch of the West.

   2. any of certain bishops of the Eastern rites, as a head of an Eastern rite or a bishop of one of the ancient sees.

   3. the head of a Uniate church.

10. Mormon Church.,  any of the high dignitaries who pronounce the blessing of the church; Evangelist.

11. one of the elders or leading older members of a community.

12. a venerable old man.

patriarch

/ ˈpeɪtrɪˌɑːk /

noun

1. the male head of a tribe or family Compare matriarch

2. a very old or venerable man

3. Old Testament any of a number of persons regarded as the fathers of the human race, divided into the antediluvian patriarchs, from Adam to Noah, and the postdiluvian, from Noah to Abraham

4. Old Testament any of the three ancestors of the Hebrew people: Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob

5. Old Testament any of Jacob's twelve sons, regarded as the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel

6. Early Church the bishop of one of several principal sees, esp those of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria

7. Eastern Orthodox Church the bishops of the four ancient principal sees of Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, and also of Russia, Romania, and Serbia, the bishop of Constantinople (the ecumenical Patriarch ) being highest in dignity among these

8. RC Church

   1. a title given to the pope

   2. a title given to a number of bishops, esp of the Uniat Churches, indicating their rank as immediately below that of the pope

9. Mormon Church another word for Evangelist

10. Eastern Christianity the head of the Coptic, Armenian, Syrian Jacobite, or Nestorian Churches, and of certain other non-Orthodox Churches in the East

11. the oldest or most venerable member of a group, community, etc

    the patriarch of steam engines

12. a person regarded as the founder of a community, tradition, etc

Other Word Forms

• patriarchal adjective
• patriarchic adjective
• patriarchical adjective
• patriarchdom noun
• patriarchship noun
• antipatriarch noun
• patriarchally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of patriarch¹

1175–1225; Middle English patriark(e) (< Old French ) < Late Latin patriarcha < Late Greek patriárchēs high-ranking bishop, Greek: family head equivalent to patri(á) family, derivative of patḗr father + -archēs -arch

Word History and Origins

Origin of patriarch¹

C12: via Old French from Church Latin patriarcha

Example Sentences

Although they live within their means, Man-su’s termination jettisons the You family from their tax bracket and thrusts its patriarch down a rabbit hole of shame and emasculation.

From Salon

Ming Xuechang, the family patriarch, reportedly killed himself; other family members were handed over to the Chinese authorities.

From BBC

Murphy, 49, told BBC News playing the violent patriarch for a quarter of his life "has been a gift and a privilege".

From BBC

When ‘The Osbournes’ premiered in 2002, we saw a different kind of TV family with a patriarch who wasn’t afraid to curse, shout and strip away his rock star persona for millions of viewers.

From Los Angeles Times

His Tevye, a patriarch trying to hold his family together amid the double assault of poverty and pogroms, was especially touching in his appeal to the Almighty to ease up on the litany of suffering.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• elder 
• founder 
• grandfather 
• ruler