A patriarch is the male head of a family or tribe.
The patriarch of the house, Mr Jawad, rules it with a ferocity renowned throughoutthe neighbourhood. [+ of]
Joseph Kennedy, the clan's patriarch, communicated with Bobby in a series of notes.
2. countable noun & title noun
A patriarch is the head of one of a number of Eastern Christian Churches.
The head of the Russian Orthodox church at that time was Patriarch Alexei the Second.
More Synonyms of patriarch
patriarch in British English
(ˈpeɪtrɪˌɑːk)
noun
1.
the male head of a tribe or family
Compare matriarch (sense 2)
2.
a very old or venerable man
3. Old Testament
any of a number of persons regarded as the fathers of the human race, divided into the antediluvian patriarchs, from Adam to Noah, and the postdiluvian, from Noah to Abraham
4. Old Testament
any of the three ancestors of the Hebrew people: Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob
5. Old Testament
any of Jacob's twelve sons, regarded as the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel
6. Early Church
the bishop of one of several principal sees, esp those of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria
7. Eastern OrthodoxChurch
the bishops of the four ancient principal sees of Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, and also of Russia, Romania, and Serbia, the bishop of Constantinople (the ecumenical Patriarch) being highest in dignity among these
8. Roman Catholic Church
a.
a title given to the pope
b.
a title given to a number of bishops, esp of the Uniat Churches, indicating their rank as immediately below that of the pope
9. LDS Church another word for Evangelist (sense 2)
10. Eastern Christianity
the head of the Coptic, Armenian, Syrian Jacobite, or Nestorian Churches, and of certain other non-Orthodox Churches in the East
11.
the oldest or most venerable member of a group, community, etc
the patriarch of steam engines
12.
a person regarded as the founder of a community, tradition, etc
Derived forms
patriarchal (ˌpatriˈarchal)
adjective
patriarchally (ˌpatriˈarchally)
adverb
Word origin
C12: via Old French from Church Latin patriarcha
patriarch in American English
(ˈpeɪtriˌɑrk)
noun
1.
the father and ruler of a family or tribe, as one of the founders of the ancient Hebrew families: in theBible, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's twelve sons were patriarchs
2.
a person regarded as the founder or father of a colony, religion, business, etc.
3.
a man of great age and dignity
4.
the oldest individual of a class or group
5. [oftenP-]
a.
a bishop in the early Christian Church, esp. a bishop of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, orJerusalem
b. Roman CatholicChurch
the pope (Patriarch of the West), or any of certain bishops ranking immediately after him, as the bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, andJerusalem
c. Eastern ChristianChurch
the highest-ranking bishop at Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow, Bucharest, etc.
d.
the jurisdictional head of any of certain other churches, as the Coptic, Nestorian,Armenian, etc.
e. LDS Church
a high-ranking member of the Melchizedek priesthood
Word origin
ME patriarche < OFr < LL(Ec) patriarcha < Gr(Ec) patriarchēs (transl. of Heb roshe-avot) < Gr patria, family < patēr, father + -archēs < archein, to rule
Examples of 'patriarch' in a sentence
patriarch
In either case, his religious metaphors had been badly mixed -- the patriarch of Genesis doing a rather bad imitation of Mahatma Ghandi.
Reeves, Robert DOUBTING THOMAS (2002)
Peter was a couple of years older than Kate, four at the most, and here he was already playing the grand old patriarch card.
Sue Welfare FALLEN WOMEN (2002)
If the Duane patriarch was entertaining at a dinner for the cream of
Adair, Tom (Intro) THREE KINDS OF KISSING - SCOTTISH SHORT STORIES (2002)
I had always thought of Aristide as a patriarch who never considered anyone's feelings.
Joanne Harris COASTLINERS (2002)
In other languages
patriarch
British English: patriarch NOUN
A patriarch is the male head of a family or tribe.
The patriarch of the house rules it with a ferocity renowned throughout the neighbourhood.