The story
From bite + sheep. Possibly an intentional, satirical corruption of, or pun on, bishop, to imply one who bites the flock he should be protecting (compare English sheep-biter).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Today it means: A bishop, particularly a Catholic bishop persecuting Protestants. Full definition →
From bite + sheep. Possibly an intentional, satirical corruption of, or pun on, bishop, to imply one who bites the flock he should be protecting (compare English sheep-biter).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.