archbishop
/ˌɑː(ɹ)t͡ʃˈbɪʃəp/ noun
Forms archbishops abp.
- noun A senior bishop who is in charge of an archdiocese, and presides over a group of dioceses called a province (in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, etc.)
- noun (chess) A fairy chess piece which combines the moves of the bishop and the knight.
Etymology
From Middle English erchebischop, archebischop, from Old English arċebisċop (“archbishop”), from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin archiepiscopus, from Ancient Greek ἀρχιεπίσκοπος (arkhiepískopos), from ἀρχι- (arkhi-, “first, chief”) + ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”), from ἐπισκοπέω (episkopéō, “to watch over”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + σκοπέω (skopéō, “to examine”), equivalent to arch- + bishop.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A chief bishop; a church dignitary of the first class (often called a metropolitan or primate) who superintends the conduct of the suffragan bishops in his province, and also exercises episcopal authority in his own diocese.
Etymology [AS. arcebisceop, arcebiscop, L. archiepiscopus, fr. Gr. Bishop.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “archbishop”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details