pope

¹

[pohp]

noun

1. (often initial capital letter),  the bishop of Rome as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

2. (in the early Christian church) a bishop.

3. a person considered as having or assuming authority or a position similar to that of the Roman Catholic pope.

4. the title of the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria.

5. Eastern Church.

   1. the Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria.

   2. (in certain churches) a parish priest.

Pope

²

[pohp]

noun

1. Alexander, 1688–1744, English poet.

2. John, 1822–92, Union general in the U.S. Civil War.

3. John Russell, 1874–1937, U.S. architect.

Popé

³

[poh-pey]

noun

1. died 1690?, Pueblo medicine man: led rebellion against the Spanish 1680.

pope

¹

/ pəʊp /

noun

1. another name for ruffe

Pope

²

/ pəʊp /

noun

1. Alexander. 1688–1744, English poet, regarded as the most brilliant satirist of the Augustan period, esp with his Imitations of Horace (1733–38). His technical virtuosity is most evident in The Rape of the Lock (1712–14). Other works include The Dunciad (1728; 1742), the Moral Essays (1731–35), and An Essay on Man (1733–34)

pope

³

/ pəʊp /

noun

1. (often capital) the bishop of Rome as head of the Roman Catholic Church

2. Eastern Orthodox Church

   1. a title sometimes given to a parish priest

   2. a title sometimes given to the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria

3. a person assuming or having a status or authority resembling that of a pope

pope

1. The head of the Roman Catholic Church. The pope is believed by his church to be the successor to the Apostle Peter. He is bishop of Rome and lives in a tiny nation within Rome called the Vatican. Catholics believe that when the pope speaks officially on matters of faith and morals, he speaks infallibly (see papal infallibility). (See also John XXIII and John Paul II.)

Other Word Forms

• popeless adjective
• popelike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pope¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English pāpa < Late Latin: bishop, pope < Late Greek pápas bishop, priest, variant of páppas father; papa

Word History and Origins

Origin of pope¹

Old English papa, from Church Latin: bishop, esp of Rome, from Late Greek papas father-in-God, from Greek pappas father

Example Sentences

“Is the pope Catholic?” is another popular version of this type of question, but new ones are invented all the time.

Read more on Literature

"Creation is crying out in floods, droughts, storms and relentless heat," the pope said.

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The US pope has made social justice a key theme of his papacy, now in its sixth month since being made head of the world's Catholics in May following the death of Pope Francis.

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The celebrity meeting was a sprinkling of star dust for a still relatively new pope and a way for the Catholic Church to engage more with the world beyond.

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Spike Lee presented Pope Leo XIV with a New York Knicks jersey on Saturday as the US pope welcomed film stars to the Vatican, where he called cinema a vehicle of hope.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• pontiff