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.

Popé

²

[poh-pey]

noun

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

Pope

³

[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.

pope

¹

/ 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

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. another name for ruffe

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

"In this case, however, it seems a bit different. It increases tension," said the 70-year-old pope, speaking of reports of US boats "each time ever closer to the coast of Venezuela".

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The pope renewed a "heartfelt appeal to the parties involved for a ceasefire and the urgent opening of humanitarian corridors".

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“It’s like getting an audience with the pope,” he acknowledged.

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The King, who landed at Ciampino airport on Wednesday evening, will become the first British monarch to pray with a pope since the Reformation in the 16th Century.

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The canonisation will be the second for the US pope since he was made leader of the Catholic Church on May 8.

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Related Words

• pontiff