Definition of BISHOP

bishop

Meanings

Plural: bishops

Noun

  • a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ
  • port wine mulled with oranges and cloves
  • (chess) a piece that can be moved diagonally over unoccupied squares of the same color
  • An overseer of congregations: either any such overseer, generally speaking, or (in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, etc.) an official in the church hierarchy (actively or nominally) governing a diocese, supervising the church's priests, deacons, and property in its territory.
  • An overseer of congregations: either any such overseer, generally speaking, or (in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Anglicanism, etc.) an official in the church hierarchy (actively or nominally) governing a diocese, supervising the church's priests, deacons, and property in its territory.
  • A similar official or chief priest in another religion.
  • The holder of the Greek or Roman position of episcopus, supervisor over the public dole of grain, etc.
  • Any watchman, inspector, or overlooker.
  • A chief of the Festival of Fools or St. Nicholas Day.
  • The chess piece denoted ♗ or ♝ which moves along diagonal lines and developed from the shatranj alfil ("elephant") and was originally known as the aufil or archer in English.
  • Any of various African birds of the genus Euplectes; a kind of weaverbird closely related to the widowbirds.
  • A ladybug or ladybird, beetles of the family Coccinellidae.
  • A flowering plant of the genus Bifora.
  • A sweet drink made from wine, usually with oranges, lemons, and sugar; mulled and spiced port.
  • A bustle.
  • A children's smock or pinafore.

Verb

  • To act as a bishop, to perform the duties of a bishop, especially to confirm another's membership in the church.
  • To act as a bishop, to perform the duties of a bishop, especially to confirm another's membership in the church.
  • To confirm (in its other senses).
  • To make a bishop.
  • To provide with bishops.
  • To permit food (especially milk) to burn while cooking (from bishops' role in the inquisition or as mentioned in the quotation below, of horses).
  • To make a horse seem younger, particularly by manipulation of its teeth.
  • To murder by drowning.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English bischop, bishop, bisshop, biscop, from Old English bisċop (“bishop”), from Proto-West Germanic *biskop, from Vulgar Latin (e)biscopus, from classical Latin episcopus (“overseer, supervisor”), from Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + σκοπός (skopós, “watcher”), used in Greek and Latin both generally and as a title of civil officers. Cognate with all European terms for the position in various Christian churches; compare bisp.

Synonyms

consecrator, diocesan bishop, hierarch, ordinary, suffragan bishop

Scrabble Score: 13

bishop is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
bishop is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
bishop is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

bishop is a valid Words With Friends word