patriarch
pronunciation
How to pronounce patriarch in British English:
UK [ˈpeɪtriɑ:k]
How to pronounce patriarch in American English:
US [ˈpeɪtriɑrk]
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- Noun:
- the male head of family or tribe
- any of the early Biblical characters regarded as fathers of the human race
- a man who is older and higher in rank than yourself
Word Origin
- patriarch
- patriarch: see patron
- patriarch (n.)
- late 12c., from Old French patriarche "one of the Old Testament fathers" (11c.) and directly from Late Latin patriarcha (Tertullian), from Greek patriarkhes "chief or head of a family," from patria "family, clan," from pater "father" (see father (n.)) + arkhein "to rule" (see archon). Also used as an honorific title of certain bishops in the early Church, notably those of Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome.
Example
- 1. The patriarch of the serbian church has backed the protesters .
- 2. The hearers had never seen a middle-east patriarch respond to such an insult like this .
- 3. Mahmoud , the urbane patriarch , straddles two worlds , embodied in his two wives .
- 4. When david thomson was still young , his grandfather , roy , lined him up to someday take over the family business , stating this responsibility in the patriarch 's autobiography .
- 5. Last week he took to the wheel of his soviet-era volga gaz-21 car , giving russia 's patriarch a lift .