: any of the bishops of the ancient or Eastern Orthodox sees of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem or the ancient and Western see of Rome with authority over other bishops
b
: the head of any of various Eastern churches
c
: a Roman Catholic bishop next in rank to the pope with purely titular or with metropolitan (see metropolitanentry 2 sense 1) jurisdiction
3
: a Mormon of the Melchizedek priesthood empowered to perform the ordinances of the church and pronounce blessings within a stake or prescribed jurisdiction
Example Sentences
Our grandfather was the family's patriarch. The tribe's patriarch ruled for 20 years before his death.
Recent Examples on the WebCo-showrunner Alex Barnow confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that when the comedy's tenth season begins, the patriarch of the family will already be dead. Brendan Morrow, The Week, 30 Aug. 2022 For Torres, the patriarch of a multi-generation wine family, the long and surprising road ends with pride. Ian Mount, Fortune, 30 Aug. 2022 Only the patriarch of the pride eludes them, its paw prints indicating its mighty size. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Aug. 2022 Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced patriarch of a legal dynasty in South Carolina, was charged Thursday with double murder more than a year after the mysterious deaths of his wife and son outside their home.Washington Post, 14 July 2022 That said, one part of Strangers that really, really, worked was Michael Shannon, playing the patriarch of a grieving family. Evan Romano, Men's Health, 12 July 2022 His plans destroyed, Clark, the patriarch of the family, snaps, and things veer completely off the rails, going from vacation daydream to vacation nightmare. Jen Doll, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2022 In light of the outpouring of support, the patriarch of the family, Max, who is fighting in Ukraine, expressed his gratitude in a post on Facebook. Ted Glanzer, Hartford Courant, 26 June 2022 Michel David-Weill, the long-serving patriarch of the New York and Paris houses of the Lazard banking dynasty, expanded the investment boutique led by his forebears and knitted it more closely to its sister business in London. Sara Ruberg, WSJ, 23 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English patriarche, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin patriarcha, from Greek patriarchēs, from patria lineage (from patr-, patēr father) + -archēs -arch — more at father