pontiff

[ pon-tif ]
/ ˈpɒn tɪf /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR pontiff ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any pontifex.
any high or chief priest.
Ecclesiastical.
  1. a bishop.
  2. the Roman Catholic pope, the Bishop of Rome.

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Origin of pontiff

1600–10; earlier pontife < French, short for Latin pontifex pontifex

Words nearby pontiff

pontian, pontianak, pontic, pontic mountains, pontifex, pontiff, pontific, pontifical, pontifical college, pontifical mass, pontificals
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to pontiff

pope, bishop, pontifex

Example sentences from the Web for pontiff

British Dictionary definitions for pontiff

pontiff
/ (ˈpɒntɪf) /

noun

a former title of the pagan high priest at Rome, later used of popes and occasionally of other bishops, and now confined exclusively to the pope

Word Origin for pontiff

C17: from French pontife, from Latin pontifex
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for pontiff

pontiff

Another name for the pope. Pontiff comes from a Latin word, meaning “bridge builder,” that was used as a title for some of the priests of ancient Rome.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.