patriarch

American  

[pay-tree-ahrk] / ˈpeɪ triˌɑrk /

noun

• patriarchs
  plural

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.

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patriarch British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• patriarchs
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of patriarch

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

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Explanation

A patriarch is a male leader. Your father might be the patriarch of your family, but your kid brother could be the patriarch of his club house. You can trace patriarch back to its ancient Greek root pater meaning "father." What do you think a female leader is called? You got it — matriarch. Although the noun patriarch specifically refers to a male head of the family, it can more generally refer to any older, respected male. In terms of the Old Testament, patriarch refers to the men considered to be the fathers of the human race, including Jacob and Isaac.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

patriarch patriarchs

The patriarch mentioned these two obstacles intentionally, and a joint international commission plans to examine them head-on over the next several years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

The Kirsh family is expanding its New York family office after patriarch Nathan Kirsh sold Jetro Restaurant Depot to Sysco for $29 billion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

At the same time, a trailer-dwelling man named Clevon becomes the patriarch of multiple interconnected, large families.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

Jeanie, the third-oldest child of former Lakers owner Jerry Buss, was hand-picked by the family patriarch to oversee his prized investment that grew from a $67.5-million purchase into a $12.5 billion world-renowned brand.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Dinky was trying to masquerade as this patriarch that he wasn’t.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

The leaders, or patriarchs, of Orthodox churches will wear their own style of mitres, a cape called sakkos and an ornate cloth called omophorion, in colours according to their specific traditions.

From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2025

Pennington, for example, characterized slavery as “an institution of the dark age” while critiquing the “monarchs, patriarchs, and prophets of the South.”

From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2024

Bartholomew I is regarded as the “first among equals” among patriarchs in Eastern Orthodoxy and the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 6, 2024

Is part of the problem that there are no other Black patriarchs with substantial speaking roles in any of the Bridgerton seasons thus far, so all we’re left with is him?

From Slate ● May 4, 2023

Huddling at their exclusive clubs, the patriarchs steered construction of important institutions to serve their black brothers and sisters.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

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Related Words

• elder
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