bishop

Etymology 1
From, , , , from , from British Latin or , from classical 🇨🇬, from , from  + , used in Greek and Latin both generally and as a title of civil officers. Cognate with all European terms for the position in various Christian churches; compare.

Noun

 * 1)  An overseer of congregations: either any such overseer, generally speaking, or (in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, etc.) an official in the church hierarchy (actively or nominally) governing a diocese, supervising the church's priests, deacons, and property in its territory.
 * 2)  A similar official or chief priest in another religion.
 * 3) * 1615, William Bedwell, Arabian Trudgman in translating Mohammedis Imposturæ, sig. N4
 * The Byshop of Egypt is called the Souldan.
 * 1)  The holder of the Greek or Roman position of, supervisor over the public dole of grain, etc.
 * 2)  Any watchman, inspector, or overlooker.
 * 3) A chief of the Festival of Fools or St. Nicholas Day.
 * 4)  The chess piece denoted ♗ or ♝ which moves along diagonal lines and developed from the shatranj alfil ("elephant") and was originally known as the aufil or archer in English.
 * 5) * 1562, Rowbotham in Archaeologia, XXIV. 203
 * The Bishoppes some name Alphins, some fooles, and some name them Princes; other some call them Archers.
 * 1) Any of various African birds of the genus ; a kind of weaverbird closely related to the widowbirds.
 * 2)  A ladybug or ladybird, beetles of the family.
 * 3) A flowering plant of the genus.
 * 4) A sweet drink made from wine, usually with oranges, lemons, and sugar; mulled and spiced port.
 * 5) * ante 1745,, Women who cry Apples in Works (1746), VIII. 192
 * Well roasted, with Sugar and Wine in a Cup,
 * They'll make a sweet Bishop.
 * 1) * 1791, J. Boswell, , anno 1752 I. 135
 * A bowl of that liquor called Bishop, which Johnson had always liked.
 * 1)  A bustle.
 * 2)  A children's smock or pinafore.
 * 3) * 1874, in Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.)
 * Here; tak him, an wesh him; an' put him a clen bishop on.
 * 1)  A ladybug or ladybird, beetles of the family.
 * 2) A flowering plant of the genus.
 * 3) A sweet drink made from wine, usually with oranges, lemons, and sugar; mulled and spiced port.
 * 4) * ante 1745,, Women who cry Apples in Works (1746), VIII. 192
 * Well roasted, with Sugar and Wine in a Cup,
 * They'll make a sweet Bishop.
 * 1) * 1791, J. Boswell, , anno 1752 I. 135
 * A bowl of that liquor called Bishop, which Johnson had always liked.
 * 1)  A bustle.
 * 2)  A children's smock or pinafore.
 * 3) * 1874, in Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.)
 * Here; tak him, an wesh him; an' put him a clen bishop on.
 * 1)  A children's smock or pinafore.
 * 2) * 1874, in Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.)
 * Here; tak him, an wesh him; an' put him a clen bishop on.

Usage notes
Generally speaking, Christian churches observe their highest positions&mdash;popes, patriarchs, archbishops, etc.&mdash;as specially-empowered bishops; thus the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church is the Bishop of Rome, while the Pope of the Coptic Church is nominally bishop of Alexandria though resident in Cairo. In several denominations, the charism of a laying on of hands is believed to introduce new bishops to an unbroken apostolic succession initiated by the Holy Spirit (also called the Holy Ghost) at Pentecost described in the 2nd chapter of the Book of Acts.

Traditionally, the rank of bishop has been restricted to men and many conservative denominations continue this practice. Even denominations permitting the marriage of priests (such as Eastern Orthodoxy) typically require complete celibacy from those promoted to bishophood: owing to traditional aversions to divorce, this usually restricts the rank to single men and widowers. Catholic bishops are also priests; Eastern Orthodox bishops are usually (but not always) monks.

Synonyms

 * diocesan bishop, suffragan bishop
 * ordinary, hierarch
 * consecrator

Hyponyms

 * catholicos, major archbishop, patriarch, pope
 * archbishop, cardinal, eparch, exarch, metropolitan, metropolitan bishop, primate
 * prince-bishop, prince-archbishop, Prince of the Church
 * titular bishop
 * coadjutor bishop, assistant bishop, auxiliary bishop
 * principal consecrator, principal co-consecrator
 * bishop emeritus

Holonyms

 * college
 * Holy Synod, synod
 * conference, episcopal conference
 * assembly, sobor, synod
 * council, ecumenical council
 * conciliabule, conciliabulum
 * college, conclave

Related terms

 * bishopess
 * bishopess

Translations

 * Afrikaans:
 * Albanian:, upeshk
 * Arabic: أُسْقُف
 * Armenian:
 * Old Armenian: եպիսկոպոս
 * Asturian: obispu
 * Azerbaijani:
 * Belarusian: епі́скап, бі́скуп
 * Bengali: বিশপ
 * Bikol Central: obispo
 * Breton:
 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Catalan:
 * Cebuano: obispo
 * Chinese:
 * Cantonese: 主教
 * Hokkien:
 * Mandarin:
 * Coptic: ⲉⲡⲓⲥⲕⲟⲡⲟⲥ
 * Czech:
 * Dalmatian: pascu
 * Danish:, bisp
 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto: episkopo, episkopino
 * Estonian: piiskop
 * Faroese: biskupur, bispur
 * Finnish:
 * Franco-Provençal: èvèque
 * French:
 * Friulian: vescul
 * Galician:
 * Georgian: ეპისკოპოსი
 * German: ,
 * Greek:
 * Ancient: ἐπίσκοπος
 * Hawaiian: pīhopa
 * Hebrew:
 * Hindi: ,
 * Hungarian:
 * Icelandic:
 * Ido:, episkopulo , episkopino
 * Indonesian:
 * Ingrian: jeppiskoppi, arhirei
 * Irish: easpag
 * Italian:, vescova
 * Japanese: ,
 * Kashubian: biskùp
 * Kazakh: епископ
 * Khmer: អេវ៉ែក
 * Korean:
 * Kurdish:
 * Northern Kurdish: ,
 * Kyrgyz:
 * Latin: episcopus, episcopa
 * Latvian:
 * Lithuanian: vyskupas
 * Macedonian: епископ, бискуп, владика
 * Malay: biskop, uskup
 * Maltese: isqof
 * Manx: aspick
 * Maori: pīhopa
 * Marathi: बिशप
 * Middle English: bischop
 * Mongolian:
 * Cyrillic: хүрээний тэргүүн
 * Northern Sami: bisma
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: ,
 * Nynorsk: biskop, bisp
 * Occitan:
 * Ojibwe: gichi-mekadewikwanaye, anama'e-ogimaa
 * Old Church Slavonic:
 * Cyrillic: єпискоупъ, бискоупъ, владꙑка
 * Old Prussian: bīskups
 * Ossetian: алчер
 * Ottoman Turkish: اسقف
 * Pashto:
 * Persian: ,
 * Plautdietsch: Eltesta (Ältester)
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian: ,
 * Romansch: uvestg
 * Russian:
 * Samoan: 'epikopō
 * Sardinian: obíscu
 * Saterland Frisian: Biskop
 * Scottish Gaelic: easbaig
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: ѐпископ, би̏скуп
 * Roman: ,
 * Sicilian: ,
 * Skolt Sami: aa´rhel
 * Slovak:
 * Slovene:
 * Sorbian:
 * Lower Sorbian: biskup
 * Upper Sorbian: biskop, biskup
 * Spanish:
 * Swahili:
 * Swedish:
 * Tagalog:
 * Tajik: усқуф, епископ
 * Tatar: епископ, әскаф
 * Thai: บิชอป,, มุขนายก
 * Tok Pisin: bisop
 * Turkish:
 * Turkmen: ýepiskop
 * Ukrainian: єпи́скоп
 * Urdu: اسقف, بشپ
 * Uyghur: ئېپىسكوپ, باش روھانىي
 * Uzbek:
 * Vietnamese:
 * Vilamovian: bisküp
 * Volapük:, hibijop , jibijop
 * Waray-Waray: obispo
 * Welsh: esgob
 * Yiddish: ביסקופּ, בישאָף
 * Yup'ik: allgiliyaq


 * Afrikaans:
 * Albanian:
 * Arabic:
 * Armenian:
 * Asturian: alfil
 * Azerbaijani:
 * Belarusian: слон, афіцэ́р
 * Bengali:
 * Breton:
 * Bulgarian: офице́р
 * Burmese:
 * Catalan:
 * Chinese:
 * Cantonese: 象, 主教
 * Mandarin: ,
 * Czech:
 * Danish:
 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto:
 * Estonian:
 * Faroese: bispur
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * Galician:
 * Georgian:
 * German:
 * Greek:
 * Hebrew:
 * Hindi:, , , फ़ील
 * Hungarian: ,
 * Icelandic:
 * Ido:
 * Indonesian:
 * Irish: easpag
 * Italian:
 * Japanese: ,
 * Javanese:
 * Kashubian:
 * Kazakh: піл
 * Khmer:
 * Korean: 비숍
 * Kyrgyz: слон,
 * Lao: ບີຊອປ, ໂຄນ
 * Latin: alfinus
 * Latvian: laidnis
 * Lithuanian: rikis
 * Macedonian: ловец
 * Malay:
 * Malayalam:
 * Maltese: isqof
 * Maori: pīhopa
 * Marathi: उंट
 * Middle English: awfyn
 * Middle Persian: pyl
 * Mongolian:
 * Cyrillic:
 * Navajo: halneʼé
 * Nepali:
 * Norwegian:
 * Occitan:
 * Ojibwe: gechi-makadewikonayed
 * Old English: bisċop
 * Persian:
 * Polish: ,
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian:
 * Romansch: currider, curider , currier , curridur
 * Russian: ,
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: ло́вац, тр̀ка̄ч, ла̀уфер
 * Roman:, ,
 * Sicilian: arfinu
 * Slovak: strelec
 * Slovene: tekáč,
 * Spanish:, arfil
 * Swahili: sataranja, padre
 * Swedish:
 * Tagalog: alpil, arpil
 * Tajik:
 * Tatar:
 * Thai: บิชอป,
 * Turkish:
 * Turkmen: pil
 * Ukrainian: ,
 * Urdu: فیل
 * Uyghur: پىل
 * Uzbek:
 * Vietnamese:
 * Yiddish: לאַפֿער

Verb

 * 1)  To act as a bishop, to perform the duties of a bishop, especially to confirm another's membership in the church.
 * 2) * c. 1000, Thorpe's Laws, II. 348 (Bosw.)
 * Se bisceop biþ gesett... to bisceopgenne cild.
 * 1)  To confirm (in its other senses).
 * 2)  To make a bishop.
 * 3) * 1549, H. Latimer, 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie, 5th Serm. sig. Pviv
 * Thys hathe bene often tymes... sene in preachers before they were byshoppyd or benificed.
 * 1) * 1861 November 23, Sat. Rev., 537
 * There may be other... matters to occupy the thoughts of one about to be bishopped.
 * 1)  To provide with bishops.
 * 2) * 1865 December 6, Daily Telegraph, 5/3
 * Italy would be well bishoped if her episcopacy... did not exceed fifty-nine.
 * 1)  To permit food (especially milk) to burn while cooking (from bishops' role in the inquisition or as mentioned in the quotation below, of horses).
 * 2) * ante 1536, Tyndale, Works, 166 (T.)
 * If the porage be burned to, or the meate ouer rosted, we say the bishop hath put his foote in the potte or the bishop hath played the cooke, because the bishops burn who they lust and whosoever displeaseth them.
 * 1)  To make a horse seem younger, particularly by manipulation of its teeth.
 * 2) * 1727, R. Bradley, Family Dict. at "Horse"
 * This way of making a Horse look young is... called Bishoping.
 * 1)  To permit food (especially milk) to burn while cooking (from bishops' role in the inquisition or as mentioned in the quotation below, of horses).
 * 2) * ante 1536, Tyndale, Works, 166 (T.)
 * If the porage be burned to, or the meate ouer rosted, we say the bishop hath put his foote in the potte or the bishop hath played the cooke, because the bishops burn who they lust and whosoever displeaseth them.
 * 1)  To make a horse seem younger, particularly by manipulation of its teeth.
 * 2) * 1727, R. Bradley, Family Dict. at "Horse"
 * This way of making a Horse look young is... called Bishoping.
 * 1)  To make a horse seem younger, particularly by manipulation of its teeth.
 * 2) * 1727, R. Bradley, Family Dict. at "Horse"
 * This way of making a Horse look young is... called Bishoping.
 * This way of making a Horse look young is... called Bishoping.

Etymology 2
Eponymous, from the surname Bishop.

Verb

 * 1)  To murder by drowning.
 * 2) * 1840, R.H. Barham, Some Account of a New Play in Ingoldsby Legends 1st series, 308
 * I Burked the papa, now I'll Bishop the son.