pope

[pohp] /poʊp/
noun
1.
(often initial capital letter) the bishop of Rome as head of the Roman Catholic Church.
2.
(in the early Christian church) a bishop.
3.
a person considered as having or assuming authority or a position similar to that of the Roman Catholic pope.
4.
the title of the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria.
5.
Eastern Church.
  1. the Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria.
  2. (in certain churches) a parish priest.
Origin
before 900; Middle English; Old English pāpa < Late Latin: bishop, pope < Late Greek pápas bishop, priest, variant of páppas father; see papa
Related forms
popeless, adjective
popelike, adjective
Examples from the web for popes
  • popes were variously imprisoned, starved, killed, and deposed by force.
  • The family of a certain papal official made and unmade popes for fifty years.
  • In the middle ages, popes struggled with monarchs over power.
  • Conversely, there have been a number of popes whose reign lasted less than a month.
  • References pastor, ludwig, the history of the popes from the close of the middle ages.
  • Personally, clement was one of the few popes to avoid nepotism.
  • However, much controversy surrounds exactly what was promised by the popes of the time.
British Dictionary definitions for popes

pope1

/pəʊp/
noun
1.
(often capital) the bishop of Rome as head of the Roman Catholic Church related adjective papal
2.
(Eastern Orthodox Church)
  1. a title sometimes given to a parish priest
  2. a title sometimes given to the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria
3.
a person assuming or having a status or authority resembling that of a pope
Word Origin
Old English papa, from Church Latin: bishop, esp of Rome, from Late Greek papas father-in-God, from Greek pappas father

pope2

/pəʊp/
noun
1.
another name for ruffe

Pope

/pəʊp/
noun
1.
Alexander. 1688–1744, English poet, regarded as the most brilliant satirist of the Augustan period, esp with his Imitations of Horace (1733–38). His technical virtuosity is most evident in The Rape of the Lock (1712–14). Other works include The Dunciad (1728; 1742), the Moral Essays (1731–35), and An Essay on Man (1733–34)
Word Origin and History for popes

pope

n.

Old English papa (9c.), from Church Latin papa "bishop, pope" (in classical Latin, "tutor"), from Greek papas "patriarch, bishop," originally "father." Applied to bishops of Asia Minor and taken as a title by the Bishop of Alexandria c.250. In Western Church, applied especially to the Bishop of Rome since the time of Leo the Great (440-461) and claimed exclusively by them from 1073 (usually in English with a capital P-). Popemobile, his car, is from 1979. Papal, papacy, later acquisitions in English, preserve the original vowel.

popes in Culture

pope definition


The head of the Roman Catholic Church. The pope is believed by his church to be the successor to the Apostle Peter. He is bishop of Rome and lives in a tiny nation within Rome called the Vatican. Catholics believe that when the pope speaks officially on matters of faith and morals, he speaks infallibly (see papal infallibility). (See also John XXIII and John Paul II.)

Slang definitions & phrases for popes

Pope

Related Terms

is the pope polish