pontifex
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pontifex
1570–80; < Latin: apparently literally, path-maker, equivalent to ponti- (stem of pōns ) bridge, probably originally, path ( see pons) + -fec- (combining form of facere to make) + -s nominative singular ending; the literal application is unclear
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The new pontifex maximus has much work ahead of him to wrangle the faithful into unity.
From Los Angeles Times • May 10, 2025
If he sometimes sounds like a pontifex maximus, he generally talks neither down nor with false humility.
From Time Magazine Archive
He was pontifex maximus in 57, and died in 53.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 8 "Cube" to "Daguerre, Louis" by Various
Caesar was at the time, let us note, the head of the Roman religion, pontifex 306maximus.
From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by Fowler, W. Warde
This sphere was under the direction of a college of priests, at whose head stood the pontifex maximus.
From A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Boak, Arthur Edward Romilly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
