Meanings
plural archbishops · alternative abp. · alternative Abp.
- A senior bishop who is in charge of an archdiocese, and presides over a group of dioceses called a province (in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, etc.)
One of those 19 candidates was Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, the archbishop of St. Louis from 2004 to 2008.
2025 April 21, Sam Clancy, Andrew Weil, “Former St. Louis archbishop Burke among 'popeable' candidates after Francis' death”, in KSDK2 more examples
Thereupon I declared that I was a heretic and a barbarian—“Je suis hérétique et barbare,” I said, “and that these archbishops and cardinals and monsignors, and the rest of them, meant nothing at all to me.
1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The GamblerHe passed over several archbishops who would traditionally become cardinals to promote Gregory. He also moved Augustine Tolton, who died in 1897 after becoming the first African American priest, one step closer to sainthood.
2020 November 27, Daniel Burke and Delia Gallagher, “This archbishop has become the first African American cardinal in Catholic history”, in CNN
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Ancient Greekἀρχιεπίσκοπος
- Ecclesiastical Latinarchiepiscopus
- Old Englisharċebisċop“archbishop”
- Middle Englisherchebischop
- Englisharchbishop
From Middle English erchebischop, archebischop, from Old English arċebisċop (“archbishop”), from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin archiepiscopus, from Ancient Greek ἀρχιεπίσκοπος (arkhiepískopos), from ἀρχι- (arkhi-, “first, chief”) + ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”), from ἐπισκοπέω (episkopéō, “to watch over”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + σκοπέω (skopéō, “to examine”), equivalent to arch- + bishop.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Ecclesiastical Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans aartsbiskop
- aartsbiskopsenior bishop
Ancient Greek ἀρχιεπίσκοπος
- ἀρχιεπίσκοπος (arkhiepískopos)senior bishop
Arabic أَرْشِي اِبِسْقُوبُس
- أَرْشِي اِبِسْقُوبُس (ʔaršī ibisqūbus)senior bishop
Basque artzapezpiku
- artzapezpikusenior bishop
Bulgarian архиепи́скоп
- архиепи́скоп (arhiepískop)senior bishop
Catalan arquebisbe
- arquebisbesenior bishop
Chinese Cantonese 大主教
- 大主教 (daai⁶ zyu² gaau³)senior bishop
Chinese Mandarin 大主教
- 大主教 (dàzhǔjiào)senior bishop
Czech arcibiskup
- arcibiskupsenior bishop
Danish ærkebiskop, ærkebisp
- ærkebiskopsenior bishop
- ærkebispsenior bishop
Dutch aartsbisschop
- aartsbisschopsenior bishop
Esperanto ĉefepiskopo
- ĉefepiskoposenior bishop
Estonian peapiiskop
- peapiiskopsenior bishop
Finnish arkkipiispa
- arkkipiispasenior bishop
French archevêque
- archevêquesenior bishop
German Erzbischof
- Erzbischofsenior bishop
Greek αρχιεπίσκοπος
- αρχιεπίσκοπος (archiepískopos)senior bishop
Hebrew אַרְכִיבִּישׁוֹף
- אַרְכִיבִּישׁוֹףsenior bishop
Hungarian érsek
- érseksenior bishop
Icelandic erkibiskup
- erkibiskupsenior bishop
Indonesian uskup agung
- uskup agungsenior bishop
Irish ardeaspag
- ardeaspagsenior bishop
Italian arcivescovo
- arcivescovosenior bishop
Japanese 大主教, 大司教
- 大主教 (daishukyō)senior bishop
- 大司教 (daishikyō)senior bishop
Korean 대주교
- 대주교 (daejugyo)senior bishop
Latin archepiscopus, archiepiscopus
- archepiscopussenior bishop
- archiepiscopussenior bishop
- archipraesulsenior bishop
Latvian arhibīskaps
- arhibīskapssenior bishop
Lithuanian arkivyskupas
- arkivyskupassenior bishop
Malay ketua biskop
- ketua biskopsenior bishop
Māori pīhopa matua, ākipīhopa
- pīhopa matuasenior bishop
- ākipīhopasenior bishop
Norwegian Bokmål erkebiskop, erkebisp
- erkebiskopsenior bishop
- erkebispsenior bishop
Polish arcybiskup
- arcybiskupsenior bishop
Portuguese arcebispo
- arcebisposenior bishop
Romanian arhiepiscop, mitropolit
- arhiepiscopsenior bishop
- mitropolitsenior bishop
Russian архиепи́скоп
- архиепи́скоп (arxijepískop)senior bishop
Scottish Gaelic àrd-easbaig
- àrd-easbaigsenior bishop
Slovak arcibiskup
- arcibiskupsenior bishop
Spanish arzobispo
- arzobisposenior bishop
Swahili askofu mkuu
- askofu mkuusenior bishop
Swedish ärkebiskop
- ärkebiskopsenior bishop
Tagalog arsobispo
- arsobisposenior bishop
Tamil பேராயர்
- பேராயர் (pērāyar)senior bishop
Thai อาร์ชบิชอป, อัครสังฆราช
- อาร์ชบิชอปsenior bishop
- อัครสังฆราชsenior bishop
- อัครมุขนายกsenior bishop
Turkish başpiskopos
- başpiskopossenior bishop
Ukrainian архієпи́скоп
- архієпи́скоп (arxijepýskop)senior bishop
Vietnamese tổng giám mục
- tổng giám mụcsenior bishop
Welsh archesgob
- archesgobsenior bishop
Yiddish אַרציביסקופּ
- אַרציביסקופּ (artsibiskup)senior bishop
Cite this entry
archbishop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archbishop
“archbishop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archbishop. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “archbishop,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archbishop.
Source: archbishop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.