Meaning of Patriarch | Babel Free

Definitions

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. A founder of a political or religious movement, an organization or an enterprise.
4. An old leader of a village or community.
5. The male progenitor of a genetic or tribal line, or of a clan or extended family.
6. The male head of a household or nuclear family.

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

“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; […]”

“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.”

“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.”

CEFR level