archbishop
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of archbishop
before 900; Middle English; Old English arcebisceop ( arce- arch- 1 + bisceop bishop ), modeled on Late Latin archiepiscopus < Greek archiepískopos; replacing Old English hēahbisceop ( see high)
Vocabulary lists containing archbishop
Medieval Europe - Middle School
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Medieval Europe - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
Though his first love was always parish work, we were there for his elevations to auxiliary bishop of San Francisco, bishop of San Diego and, most recently, archbishop of Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
But Rossetti’s comments ran afoul of his boss, the Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., who announced Wednesday he had “removed” Rossetti from his position as an exorcist.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2026
Still, the archbishop is hopeful that the sparring will blow over.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The Prince and Princess of Wales will be part of the congregation representing King Charles, and will see Dame Sarah's first sermon as archbishop.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026
The priests had decided they could not wait forever for the pope and the archbishop to come around.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Many vicars, bishops, and archbishops are known to have personally managed investments in plantations, and in the South Sea Company, sometimes paying for renovations to churches and cathedrals.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
This led Mrs Pailing and other senior cathedral staff to write to the archbishops of Canterbury and York expressing their “profound concern” and asking them to intervene.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2024
The Church of England has offered to work with the government to help communities discuss the plans - something the archbishops said would be fulfilling a historic role.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2024
Francis made the unscripted comments at the end of Mass, calling up the former and current archbishops of Hong Kong, Cardinal John Tong Hon and Archbishop Stephen Chow, to flank him as he spoke.
From Reuters ● Sep. 3, 2023
I thought only archbishops and popes were posh enough for butlers, but vicars can obviously have them too.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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.
