patriarch
/ˈpeɪtɹɪɑːk/US/ˈpeɪtɹiɑɹk/
patriarch noun: the highest form of bishop, in the ancient world having authority over other bishops in the province but now generally as an honorary title; in Roman Catholicism, considered a bishop second only to the Pope in rank.
Noun
patriarch (plural patriarchs)
- The highest form of bishop, in the ancient world having authority over other bishops in the province but now generally as an honorary title; in Roman Catholicism, considered a bishop second only to the Pope in rank.
- A male leader of a family, tribe or ethnic group, especially one of the twelve sons of Jacob (considered to have created the twelve tribes of Israel) or (in plural) Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
- Men and brethren / lett me frely ſpeake vnto you of the patriarke David: For he is both deed and buryed / and his ſepulcre remayneth with vs vnto this daye.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts ij:[29], folio clvj, recto
- A founder of a political or religious movement, an organization or an enterprise.
- An old leader of a village or community.
- The opinions of this junto were completely controlled by Nicholas Vedder, a patriarch of the village, and landlord of the inn, at the door of which he took his seat from morning till night, just moving sufficiently to […] keep in the shade of a large tree; […]1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Rip Van Winkle”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC, page...
- The male progenitor of a genetic or tribal line, or of a clan or extended family.
- Synonyms:
- ancestor, forebear, forefather
- The male head of a household or nuclear family.
- The popular Duck Dynasty television show and Duck Commander products took center stage in a controversy over comments made by Phil Robertson. As patriarch of the family and founder of the company, he stars in the A&E reality show based on his Louisiana life and company.2013 December 22, Gregory Wallace, “Cracker Barrel reverses decision to pull Duck Dynasty products”, in CNN Money, archived from the original on 22 Jul 2024
- Fictional male antiheroes like television’s crime patriarchs Tony Soprano and Walter White have reigned for some time, but the antiheroine has only more recently had the opportunity to rise up – and become the cause of her own downfall.2021 August 11, Jacqui Palumbo, “Rosamund Pike in ‘I Care a Lot’ and six more recommendations if you love an antiheroine”, in CNN, archived from the original on 16 Jul 2022
- Synonyms:
- highfather, paterfamilias
- A shade of purple
patriarch meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
patriarch in Hindi
- male leader
- आदिपुरुष ādipuruṣ
patriarch in Urdu
- highest bishop
- بِطْرِیق bitrīq, پَیٹْری آرْک paiṭrī ārk
patriarch in Bengali
- গোষ্ঠীপতি, বংশের প্রধান পুরুষ
patriarch in Telugu
- a patriarch, one of our first forefathers
- ప్రజాపతి prajāpati
More languagesFewer languages
- patriarch in Malayalam
- കുടുംബനാഥൻ, വംശകാരണവൻ, വർഗ്ഗത്തലവൻ, അബ്രഹാം
- patriarch in Kannada
- ವಂಶದ ಹಿರಿಯ, ಕುಲದ ಅಧಿಪತಿ, ಮನೆಯೊಡೆಯ, ಮನೆತನದ ಹಿರಿಯ
- patriarch in Gujarati
- પિતૃપ્રધાન
- patriarch in Odia
- ପିତୃପୁରୁଷ
- patriarch in Arabic
- بَطْرِيَرْك baṭriyark, بَطْرَك baṭrak, بَطْرِيك baṭrīk, شَيْخ šayḵ
- patriarch in Malay
- patriark
- patriarch in Indonesian
- patriark, batrik
- patriarch in Thai
- สังฆราช sǎng-ká-râat
- patriarch in Vietnamese
- thượng phụ, mục thủ, gia trưởng
Examples of patriarch in a sentence
- The patriarch survived many descendants: five children, a dozen grandchildren, even a great grandchild.
- Jacob the patriarch, by force of imagination, made peckled lambs, laying peckled rods before his sheep.
- The patriarch indignantly refused to be a party to such an outrage.
Synonyms of patriarch
Antonyms
Forms of patriarch
| plural | patriarchs |
|---|
Origin of patriarch
From Middle English patriark, patriarche, from Late Latin patriarcha; later reinforced by Old French patriarche, from Ancient Greek πατριάρχης (patriárkhēs, “the founder of the tribe/family”), from Ancient Greek πατριά (patriá, “generation, ancestry, descent, tribe, family”) + -ᾰ́ρχης (-ắrkhēs, “-arch”), with some senses likely influenced directly by Latin pāter (“father”) or Ancient Greek πᾰτήρ (pătḗr, “father”). Compare matriarch. By surface analysis, patri- + -arch.
Words formed from patriarch
Phrases with patriarch
Questions about patriarch
- What does patriarch mean?
- Patriarch means the highest form of bishop, in the ancient world having authority over other bishops in the province but now generally as an honorary title; in Roman Catholicism, considered a bishop second only to the Pope in rank.
- What is patriarch in Hindi?
- Patriarch in Hindi is आदिपुरुष (ādipuruṣ). See Patriarch meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is patriarch?
- Patriarch is a noun.
- How do you pronounce patriarch?
- Patriarch is pronounced /ˈpeɪtɹɪɑːk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of patriarch?
- The plural of patriarch is patriarchs.
Words near patriarch in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: patriarch (page history and authors); Patriarch (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ప్రజాపతి (Telugu) (page history and authors); patriarch (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); patriarch (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); patriarch (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); patriarch (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-patriarch.wav.
Cite this entry: “patriarch.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/patriarch. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.