pope

¹ American  

[pohp] / poʊp /

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 American  

[pohp] / poʊp /

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 American  

[poh-pey] / poʊˈpeɪ /

noun

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

---

pope ¹ British  

/ pəʊp /

noun

1. another name for ruffe

---

Pope ² British  

/ 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 British  

/ 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 Cultural  

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

Etymology

Origin of pope

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

Example Sentences

The 70-year-old US-born pope has so far shown diplomatic caution and has not directly condemned his home country's role in the turbulent Middle East region.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Among Catholics, the memory of the late pope Francis will loom large.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Philippe Orengo, Monaco's ambassador to the Holy See, said the pope was interested in visiting a country where there has been a resurgence in Catholicism in recent years.

From Barron's • Mar. 25, 2026

Rather, the pope is advocating positively for a world that reflects Catholic teaching.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026

After 1653 this dispute turned on the question of whether the five Jansenist propositions condemned by the pope as heretical were or were not to be found in Jansen’s Augustinus.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• pontiff