pontiff

P3O1N1T1I1F4F4
UK/ˈpɒntɪf/

noun

A member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs; a pontifex.

Similar
popeCatholic PopeRoman Catholic PopeHoly FatherVicar of ChristBishop of Rome
OriginMiddle French pontife m ← Latin pontifex m →
Less commonFirst used 17th c.Scrabble 15
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Meanings

pontiff1

nounpontiff (plural pontiffs)

plural pontiffs

  1. Ancient RomehistoricalA member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs; a pontifex.First known use 17th c.
  2. A bishop of the early Church; now specifically, the Pope.First known use 16th c.

    In several respects John turned out to be an unexpected figure as supreme pontiff.

    2007, Edwin Mullins, The Popes of Avignon, Blue Bridge, published 2008, page 46
  3. figurativelyAny chief figure or leader of a religion.First known use 16th c.

Pontiff2

proper nounPontiff (plural Pontiffs)

plural Pontiffs

  1. A surname transferred from the nickname.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe head of the Roman Catholic Church

Similar
popeCatholic PopeRoman Catholic PopeHoly FatherVicar of ChristBishop of Rome
Broader
spiritual leaderCatholic
Also see
bishop of romeholy fatherpopevicar of christ

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

pontiff · noun

  1. Latinpontifex m
  2. Middle Frenchpontife m
  3. Englishpontiff

Borrowed from Middle French pontife m, from Latin pontifex m. Doublet of pontifex.

More words from Middle French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Pontiff · proper noun

From pontiff, a nickname for someone who had played the role of the pope in a medieval religious play, or for a vain and pompous person.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian понтифекс
  • понтифекс (pontifeks)pope
Catalan pontífex
  • pontífexpope
Chinese Mandarin 教皇, 教宗
  • 教皇 (jiàohuáng)pope
  • 教宗 (jiàozōng)pope
Dutch paus, hogepriester
  • pauspope
  • hogepriesterpope
  • pontifexpope
Esperanto ĉefpastro
  • ĉefpastropope
Estonian pontifeks
  • pontifekspope
Finnish pontiff
  • pontiffpope
French pontife
  • pontifepope
German Pontifex
  • Pontifexpope
Greek ποντίφικας
  • ποντίφικας (pontífikas)pope
Italian pontefice
  • ponteficepope
Japanese 教皇
  • 教皇 (kyōō)pope
Korean 교황
  • 교황 (gyohwang)pope
Persian پونتیفکس
  • پونتیفکس (pontifeks)pope
Polish pontyfik
  • pontyfikpope
Portuguese pontífice
  • pontíficepope
Romanian pontif
  • pontifpope
Russian понти́фик
  • понти́фик (pontífik)pope
Slovak pontifex
  • pontifexpope
Spanish pontífice, vicediós
  • pontíficepope
  • vicedióspope
  • vicecristopope
Tagalog pontipise
  • pontipisepope
Ukrainian понти́фік
  • понти́фік (pontýfik)pope
Vietnamese giáo hoàng
  • giáo hoàngpope
Cite this entry
APA

pontiff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pontiff

MLA

“pontiff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pontiff. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pontiff,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pontiff.

Source: pontiff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.