heresiarch
Syllables: he·res·i·arch/hɛˈɹiːzɪɑːk/US/həˈɹiziɑɹk/
heresiarch noun: the founder of a heresy, or a major ecclesiastical proponent of such a heresy.
Noun
heresiarch (plural heresiarchs)
- The founder of a heresy, or a major ecclesiastical proponent of such a heresy.
- He died in 1223, and seems to have had no successor; not is it an ascertained point that more than one such hæresiarch was ever recognized.1838, James Henthorn Todd, “Note D.—See Lecture I. p. 34. The Fratricelli, and Beguins.”, in Discourses on the Prophecies Relating to Antichrist in the Writings of Daniel and St. Paul; […], Dublin...
- Is the heresiarch a less pernicious member of society than the murderer? Is not the loss of one soul a greater evil than the extinction of many lives? […] If then, the heresiarch causes infinitely greater evils than the murderer, why is he not as proper an object of penal legislation as the...1839 April, [Thomas Babington Macaulay], “Art. X.—The State in Its Relations with the Church. By W[illiam] E[wart] Gladstone, Esq., Student of Christ Church, and M.P. for Newark. 8vo. Second Edition....
- Synonyms:
- arch-heretic
heresiarch meaning in Vietnamese
heresiarch in Vietnamese
- founder of a heresy
- lãnh tụ dị giáo
Examples of heresiarch in a sentence
- Is the heresiarch a less pernicious member of society than the murderer?1839 April, [Thomas Babington Macaulay], “Art. X.—The State in Its Relations with the Church. By W[illiam] E[wart] Gladstone, Esq., Student...
- Sermons, whose writers played such dangerous tricks / Their own heresiarchs called them heretics, […]1843 August 24, Oliver Wendell Holmes [Sr.], “Terpsichore”, in The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1st English edition, London...
- He was illustrating an old truth, though to me then an undiscovered one, that a heresiarch may be, and often is, a very noble man, whatever may be the result to society of his views.1913, Frederick Rogers, “James Allanson Picton, 1868–1878”, in Labour, Life and Literature: Some Memories of Sixty Years, London: Smith...
- However, the quality of the composition and the authority of the voice that speaks in it do point in the direction of the heresiarch himself, rather than some minor and unknown figure.2007, Einar Thomassen (introduction); Marvin Meyer, transl. and editor, “NHC I,3; XII,2”, in The Nag Hammadi Scriptures, international...
Synonyms of heresiarch
Forms of heresiarch
| plural | heresiarchs |
|---|---|
| alternative form | haeresiarch |
| alternative form | hæresiarch |
Origin of heresiarch
Borrowed from French hérésiarque, from Ecclesiastical Latin haeresiarcha (or directly from the Latin word), from ecclesiastical Byzantine Greek αἱρεσιάρχης (hairesiárkhēs, “leader of a sect”), from Ancient Greek αἵρεσῐς (haíresĭs, “heresy”) + -ᾰ́ρχης (-ắrkhēs, “leader, ruler”), corresponding to heresy + -arch.
Words formed from heresiarch
Questions about heresiarch
- What does heresiarch mean?
- Heresiarch means the founder of a heresy, or a major ecclesiastical proponent of such a heresy.
- What is heresiarch in Vietnamese?
- Heresiarch in Vietnamese is lãnh tụ dị giáo. See Heresiarch meaning in Vietnamese.
- How do you use heresiarch in a sentence?
- Is the heresiarch a less pernicious member of society than the murderer?
- What part of speech is heresiarch?
- Heresiarch is a noun.
- How do you pronounce heresiarch?
- Heresiarch is pronounced /hɛˈɹiːzɪɑːk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of heresiarch?
- The plural of heresiarch is heresiarchs.
Words near heresiarch in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: heresiarch (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-heresiarch.wav.
Cite this entry: “heresiarch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/heresiarch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.