archbishop

Etymology

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, “I watch over”), from ἐπί (epí, “over”) + σκοπέω (skopéō, “I examine”), equivalent to arch- + bishop.

noun

1. 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.)