patriarch

n. male head of a church; male head of a family

For other senses, see Patriarch (disambiguation). Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a composition of (pater) meaning "father" and (archon) meaning "leader", "chief", "ruler", "king", etc.
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Noun
1. title for the heads of the Eastern Orthodox Churches (in Istanbul and Alexandria and Moscow and Jerusalem)
(hypernym) spiritual leader
(hyponym) Nestorius

Noun
1. the male head of family or tribe
(synonym) paterfamilias
(hypernym) man, adult male
2. any of the early Biblical characters regarded as fathers of the human race
(hypernym) forefather, father, sire
(hyponym) antediluvian, antediluvian patriarch
3. a man who is older and higher in rank than yourself
(hypernym) old man, greybeard, graybeard, Methuselah

n. patriarch; male head of a church; male head of a family

n. patriarch