Patriarch
WordNet
noun
(1) A man who is older and higher in rank than yourself
(2) Any of the early biblical characters regarded as fathers of the human race
(3) The male head of family or tribe
(4) Title for the heads of the Eastern Orthodox Churches (in Istanbul and Alexandria and Moscow and Jerusalem)
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From Ancient Greek πατριάρχης (patriarches) "the founder of the tribe/family", from πατριά (patria) "generation, ancestry, descent, tribe, family" + αρχή (arkhee) "start, found, first cause, power, rule, dominion".
Noun
- A male leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group.
- A founder of a political or religious movement, an organization or an enterprise.
- Abraham, his son Isaac or his grandson Jacob. see Wikipedia
- The highest form of bishop, generally in charge of an ethnic community, but in terms of the pope and the ecumenical patriarch, the former is the Patriarch of the West and the latter is the Patriarch of the East, a division dating to the Emperor Constantine the Great. The cities of Antioch, Alexandria, and almost as an afterthought, Jerusalem are accorded equal historical if not ecclesial dignity. Any and all other patriarchs, particularly that of the Russian church, are inferior.
- (Bible Dictionary) Patriarch is an ordained office in the Melchizedek Priesthood. The fathers from Adam to Jacob were all patriarchs of this kind. The word as used in the Bible seems to denote also a title of honor to early leaders of the Israelites, such as David (Acts 2:29) and the 12 sons of Jacob (Acts 7:8-9). The word is of Greek derivation and means father-ruler; the Hebrew translation simply means father.