Word.ws English Dictionary

pope

UK/pəʊp//poʊp/

pope noun: an honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state. Also the alternative form of pop.

pope: an honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a...
Image: Jacques-Louis David, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

pope (plural popes)

  1. (Roman Catholicism and generally) An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.
    • Þa wæs in þa tid Uitalius papa þæs apostolican seðles aldorbiscop.ante 950, translating Bede's Ecclesiastical History (Tanner), iv. i. 252
    • The Pope is not going to issue a bull condemning the Spanish Church's support of France and destroy the Church's right to exist in Spain.1959 August 19, Flannery O'Connor, letter in Habit of Being (1980), 347
    1. (broadly, ironic, often, Roman Catholicism and generally) Any similarly absolute and 'infallible' authority.
      • We often say, that every man has a pope in his belly.1689, G. Bulkeley, “People's Right to Election”, in Andros Tracts, published 1869, II. 106
      • Burne-Jones... accepted him [Dante Gabriel Rossetti] as the infallible Pope of Art.1893 January 19, Nation (N.Y.), 46/3
    2. (broadly, Roman Catholicism and generally) Any similar head of a religion.
      • In þat yle dwelleth the Pope of hire lawe, þat þei clepen lobassy.c. 1400, John Mandeville, Travels (Titus C.xvi, 1919), 205
      • Mufti, the Mahometan pope or chief of the religion.1787, Vincent Mignot, translated by A. Hawkins, The history of the Turkish, or Ottoman Empire, section IV
    3. (uncommon, Roman Catholicism and generally) A theocrat, a priest-king, including (at first especially) over the imaginary land of Prester John or (now) in figurative and alliterative uses.
      • Eche day there etyn in his court xii erchebeshopis and xx bishopis, and the patriak of Seynt Thomays is as here pope.ante 1500, John Mandeville, Travels (Rawl., 1953), 103
      • Ramone, known as ‘the Pope of Pop’ is one of the top record producer-engineers in the world.1993 December, Vanity Fair (N.Y.), 62/1
    4. (UK, Roman Catholicism and generally) An effigy of the pope traditionally burnt in Britain on Guy Fawkes' Day and (occasionally) at other times.
      • This is the only piece in which the author has given a hint of his religion, by ridiculing the ceremony of burning the pope, and by mentioning with some indignation the inscription […]1830, Alexander Pope, The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, page xxi
      • As York's succession was challenged by burning the pope, the Duke of Monmouth was again heralded in the city as a Protestant alternative.2005, Gary S. De Krey, London and the Restoration, 1659–1683, →ISBN, page 182
    5. (US, obsolete, Roman Catholicism and generally) Pope Day, the present Guy Fawkes Day.
  2. (Coptic Orthodoxy) An honorary title of the Coptic bishop of Alexandria as father and head of his church.
  3. (Eastern Orthodoxy) An honorary title of the Orthodox bishop of Alexandria as father and head of his autocephalous church.
    Synonyms:
    Orthodox Bishop of Alexandria
  4. (historical, obsolete) Any bishop of the early Christian church.
    • All notable Bishops were then called popes.1563, 2nd Tome Homelyes, sig. Hh.i
    • All Bishops in that time had the Stile of Pope given them, as now we call every one of them, My Lord.1703, U. Chevreau, Hist. World, III. v. 379
  5. (UK) The ruffe, a small Eurasian freshwater fish (Gymnocephalus cernua); others of its genus.
    • Byfleet-river, wherein are very large pikes, jack, and tench ; perch, of eighteen inches long ; good carp, large flounders, bream, roach, dace, gudgeons, popes, large chub, and eels.1792, William Augustus Osbaldiston, The British Sportsman, Or, Nobleman, Gentleman and Farmer's Dictionary of Recreation and Amusement, page 176
    • It resembles the perch (unfortunately for itself) in having a very long and prickly fin on its back, advantage of which is taken by the boys about Windsor, who are very fond of 'plugging a pope.' This operation consists in fixing a bung in the sharp spines on the poor pope's back fin, and then...1862, Francis T. Buckland, Curiosities of Natural History, page 230
  6. (Cornwall, Devon, Scotland, UK, regional, Cumberland) The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica).
    • Alca genus; 6 species, including the razorbill, the penguin, the pope, and others.1759, “Linnæus's Systema Naturæ”, in The Gentleman's Magazine, page 456
    • The Pope: This is a very singular bird; it is about the size of our widgeon, or somewhat larger, but is not quite so large as the duck: the head is large and rounded; the eyes are small, and stand forward on the head, and lower down than in the generality of birds [...]1773, John Hill, “Alca”, in A General Natural History, volume 3, page 442
  7. (US, regional) The painted bunting (Passerina ciris).
    • The Pope is of a bright blue round the head; on the throat it is of a fine red, and on the back of a gold green colour, it sings very finely and is the size of a canary bird.1771, M. Bossu, Travels Through that Part of North America Formerly Called Louisiana, volume 1, page 371
    • The birds [of Louisiana] are the partridge, cardinal and pope, and a species of mocking bird, called the nightingale.1806, Berquin-Duvallon, Travels in Louisiana and the Floridas, in the Year, 1802: Giving a Correct Picture of Those Countries, page 122
  8. (rare) The red-cowled cardinal (Paroaria dominicana).
    • From the sketch of the bird which you have sent us, there is no doubt about its being the Pope Grosbeak, which is a species of the Cardinal, but not the crested one.1864 August 6, The Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener, and Country Gentleman, page 100
    • The Pope is a native of Brazil, and the female (it is altogether incongrouous to think of a lady pontiff) exactly resembles her mate.1883, William Thomas Greene, The amateur's aviary of foreign birds: or, How to keep and breed foreign birds, page 96
  9. Garlic, when used in addition to the Holy Trinity of celery, bell peppers and onions.

Verb

pope (third-person singular simple present popes, present participle poping, simple past and past participle poped)

  1. (intransitive) To act as or like a pope.
    • 1537, T. Cromwell in R. B. Merriman, Life & Lett. Cromwell (1902), II. 89
    • Vrban the eight, that now Popeth it.1624, R. Montagu, Gagg for New Gospell?, xiii. 95
  2. (colloquial, intransitive) To convert to Roman Catholicism.
    • I'm not going to ‘Pope’ until after the war (if I'm alive).c. 1916, in Evelyn Waugh's Life R. Knox (1959), ii. i. 142
    • A prominent Anglican priest had, to use the term generally employed on these occasions, ‘Poped’—that is, left the Church of England in order to become a Roman Catholic.1990 October 7, Sunday Telegraph, 26/5

Noun (2)

pope (plural popes)

  1. (alcoholic beverages) Any mulled wine (traditionally including tokay) considered similar and superior to bishop.
    • When made with Burgundy or Bordeaux, the mixture was called Bishop; when with old Rhenish, its name was Cardinal; and when with Tokay, it was dignified with the title of Pope.1855, C. W. Johnson, Farmer's & Planter's Encycl. Rural Affairs, published 1157, section 1
    • ‘Pope’, i.e. mulled burgundy, is Antichristian, from no mere Protestant point of view.1920, G. Saintsbury, Notes on Cellar-bk., xi. 162

Noun (3)

pope (plural popes)

  1. (US, dialectal, obsolete) The whippoorwill (Antrostomus vociferus, syn. Caprimulgus vociferus).
    • The Whipperwill has so named itself by its nocturnal songs. It is also called the pope, by reason of its darting with great swiftness, from the clouds almost to the ground, and bawling out Pope!1781, S. Peters, Gen. Hist. Connecticut, section 257
  2. (US, dialectal, rare) The nighthawk (Chordeiles minor).
    • Common Nighthawk... Pope (Conn[ecticut]. From the sound made by its wings while dropping through the air).1956, Massachusetts Audubon Soc. Bull., 40 81

Proper noun capitalized: Pope

Pope

  1. An English surname transferred from the nickname originating as a nickname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Marengo County, Alabama.
  3. A township in Fayette County, Illinois.
  4. An unincorporated community in Allen County, Kentucky.
  5. A village in Panola County, Mississippi.

Noun (4) capitalized: Pope

Pope (plural Popes)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of pope.
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:Pope.

Also used as

pope is also the alternative form of pop.

pope meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

pope in Hindi

head of the Roman Catholic Church
पोप pop

pope in Tamil

போப்

pope in Marathi

पोप

pope in Urdu

head of the Roman Catholic Church
پوپ pop
More languagesFewer languages
pope in Bengali
ধর্মযাজক dhormojajok
pope in Telugu
పోప్, పోపు
pope in Malayalam
മാർപ്പാപ്പ, മാർപാപ്പ, മാർപ്പാപ്പയെ
pope in Kannada
ಪೋಪ್
pope in Punjabi
ਪੋਪ
pope in Gujarati
પાપા pāpā, પોપ pop, ધર્મગુરુ dharmaguru
pope in Odia
ପୋପ୍, ପୋପ
pope in Nepali
पोप, पोपा, पोपलाई
pope in Tagalog
papa, Santo Papa
pope in Arabic
بَابَا bābā, حَبْر أَعْظَم ḥabr ʔaʕẓam, حَبْر ḥabr, الْبَابَا al-bābā
pope in Malay
paus
pope in Indonesian
paus
pope in Persian
پاپ pâp
pope in Thai
สันตะปาปา sǎn-dtà-bpaa-bpaa, โป๊ป bpóop
pope in Vietnamese
giáo hoàng, giáo hoàng ở La Mã
pope in Myanmar
ပုပ်ရဟန်းမင်းကြီး pup-ra.han:mang:kri:

Examples of pope in a sentence

  • A priority for the new pope will be to strengthen the church’s unity amid differing views and expectations within the institution and growing polarisation in the wider world.2025 May 8, Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood, “White smoke from Sistine Chapel chimney signals election of new pope”, in The Guardian:
  • Both [discoveries] were rejected offhand by the popes of the field.1972 June 2, Science, 966/2
  • Above all, the SED reformers cite the progress inherent in the emancipation of Westem Communist parties from the "red popes in the Kremlin."1978, Atlas World Press Review, volume 25, page 19:
  • Although Islam has no formal hierarchy of clergy, Tantawy [Egypt's grand imam] often is called the Muslim pope.2005 April 6, Kansas City Star, b7

All 40 example sentences with pope

Synonyms of pope

All synonyms of pope

Forms of pope

Noun
pluralpopes
alternative formPope
pluralPopes
Verb
third-person singular presentpopes
present participlepoping
past participlepoped
pastpoped

Plural of pope: popes

Origin of pope

From Middle English pope, popa, from Old English pāpa, from Vulgar Latin papa (title for priests and bishops, esp. and by 8th c. only the bishop of Rome), from early Byzantine Greek παπᾶς (papâs, title for priests and bishops, especially by 3rd c. the bishop of Alexandria), from late Ancient Greek πάπας (pápas, title for priests and bishops, in the sense of spiritual father), from πάππας (páppas, “papa, daddy”).

By analogy with bishop (“mulled and spiced wine”).

From Russian поп (pop), from Old Church Slavonic попъ (popŭ), from Byzantine Greek παπᾶς (papâs) as above.

Words formed from pope

Phrases with pope

6 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with pope

14 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about pope

What does pope mean?
Pope means an honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.
What is pope in Hindi?
Pope in Hindi is पोप (pop). See Pope meaning in Hindi.
How do you use pope in a sentence?
A priority for the new pope will be to strengthen the church’s unity amid differing views and expectations within the institution and growing polarisation in the wider world.
What part of speech is pope?
Pope can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce pope?
Pope is pronounced /pəʊp/ (UK).
What is the plural of pope?
The plural of pope is popes.

Words near pope in the dictionary

  1. popcult
  2. popcycle
  3. popdock
  4. popdocks
  5. popdogs
  6. pope
  7. Pope County
  8. Pope Day
  9. pope hat
  10. pope hats
  11. Pope Joan

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: pope (page history and authors); Pope (page history and authors); pope (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pope (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pope (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pope (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pope (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pope (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pope (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); pope (Nepali, 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: en-us-pope.ogg.

Cite this entry: “pope.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pope. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.