Meanings
plural mysteriarchs
- obsolete outside of fantasyOne who rules over mysteries.
It cannot be said that the place ever adequately gratified the sense of mystery it excited; but, after all, to excite the sense of mystery is perhaps better than to gratify it, and, considering its poor material, this room was quite a clever old mysteriarch.
1899, Richard Le Gallienne, Young Lives
Origin
- Ancient Greekμυστηριάρχης“one who rules over religious mysteries”
- Ecclesiastical Latinmystēriarchēs“one who presides over Christian sacraments”
- Englishmysteriarch
Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin mystēriarchēs (“one who presides over Christian sacraments”), from Ancient Greek μυστηριάρχης (mustēriárkhēs, “one who rules over religious mysteries”), from μυστήριον (mustḗrion) + -άρχης (-árkhēs), corresponding to mystery + -arch.
More words from Ecclesiastical Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
mysteriarch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mysteriarch
“mysteriarch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mysteriarch. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mysteriarch,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mysteriarch.
Source: mysteriarch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.