patriarch

What it means

1. ChristianityThe highest form of bishop, in the ancient world having authority over other bishops in the province but now generally as an honorary title; in Roman Catholicism, considered a bishop second only to the Pope in rank.First known use 9th c.
2. biblicalA male leader of a family, tribe or ethnic group, especially one of the twelve sons of Jacob (considered to have created the twelve tribes of Israel) or (in plural) Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.First known use 13th c.

   Men and brethren / lett me frely ſpeake vnto you of the patriarke David: For he is both deed and buryed / and his ſepulcre remayneth with vs vnto this daye.

   1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts ij:[29], folio clvj, recto

3. A founder of a political or religious movement, an organization or an enterprise.First known use 16th c.

In a sentence

Men and brethren / lett me frely ſpeake vnto you of the patriarke David: For he is both deed and buryed / and his ſepulcre remayneth with vs vnto this daye.

1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts ij:[29], folio clvj, recto

Where it comes from

1. Ancient Greekπατριά“generation, ancestry, descent, tribe, family”
2. Ancient Greekπατριάρχης“the founder of the tribe/family”
3. Old Frenchpatriarche
4. Late Latinpatriarcha
5. Middle Englishpatriark
6. Englishpatriarch

From Middle English patriark, patriarche, from Late Latin patriarcha; later reinforced by Old French patriarche, from Ancient Greek πατριάρχης (patriárkhēs, “the founder of the tribe/family”), from Ancient Greek πατριά (patriá, “generation, ancestry, descent, tribe, family”) + -ᾰ́ρχης (-ắrkhēs, “-arch”), with some senses likely influenced directly by Latin pāter (“father”) or Ancient Greek πᾰτήρ (pătḗr, “father”). Compare matriarch. By surface analysis, patri- + -arch.

First known use: 9th c.